Innocence Rock Time!
by MarySLi
Summary: Innocence is the most famous rock band at the moment, but when two girls are forced to flee from their hometown and travel with them, what crazy things can happen? And why did they have to leave? KandaxOC, LavixOC,AU, rated T for language
1. Chapter 1 Tickets to adventure

_Innocence Rock Time!_

"Please, please, please! Yees?" Angel begged, hopping hyperactively around Izzie.

"You know how much I hate that kind of…" Izzie tiredly started to say, and was abruptly interrupted midsentence by her brunette friend.

"You are gonna love it! I promise! Please, come with me! They are never ever coming here again!" the young girl pleaded loudly. She was several inches shorter than her friend, with tanned skin and brown hair, which gave her a somehow monochromatic appearance.

Izzie sighed, "Don't exagger-"

"I will do anything you want! ANYTHING! But please come!" Angel looked at Izzie with puppy eyes, her brown irises shinning with desire. Angel knew her friend couldn't say no to that.

Izzie gave Angel a cool gaze and sighed resignedly, "Okay okay, you win. But-"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! WE ARE SEEING INNOCENCE. WE ARE SEEING INNOCENCE!" Angel yelled excitedly. She grabbed Izzie's hands and started spinning around.

Izzie's world blurred in front of her eyes, "Angel…stop…I'm getting…dizzy. Angel? Angel, please!"

After three more sequences of giggling and spinning, the brown-haired girl released her friend's hands just to start hopping around the room by herself.

Izzie half-heartedly smiled at her excitement. It was kind of cute, she thought, and it was good to see her finally getting something she wanted. Her foster father didn't grant her many wishes. Slumping onto a round, puffy couch, she said, "You should better start looking for the tickets before…"

"Here they are!" exclaimed Angel. The brunette jumped towards her wooden desk and fumbled through the upper drawer. She took out two tickets and read:

_Innocence Akuma World Tour 2010: The Battle Starts_

_20th__of July, 2010_

_Platinum Seats._

_$200 dollars._

Izzie gaped, "Platinum Seats? They are the first row! And $200 dollars each one! How did you manage to afford this?"

"Oh, I didn't afford them. Actually, you_ won_ them" answered a happy Angel.

"What?"

"Oh, well, you'll see, they were raffling two tickets in the local radio and also these!" Angel turned around and took out two badges. "VIP tickets! Right into the dressing rooms!" her eyes shone as she squeezed the badgets against her chest.

"Wait wait, let's go back. Did you say I actually _won_this?" Izzie muttered. "What did you do?" She darted a suspicious look at her friend.

Catching sight of Izzie's expression, Angel bashfully mumbled, "Oh, well, I just entered a riffle on the radio. We both did. And….well, I gave your last name… and I think they know who you are"

"Of course they know my last name! That's why I never give it! All the persons in this damned city know my last name! I'm the next Mayor's daughter!" Izzie blurted, lifting her hands to the sky in a dramatic gesture.

"Calm down. It is nothing, I just wanted to enter the raffle and…"

"You knew they would give the tickets to me."

"Amm….well…"

"Deny it," Izzie challenged, raising a dark eyebrow.

"Okay okay. But I don't understand why you don't like to use your privileges, they are so useful sometimes." Angel argued.

"Because it is not _fair_. I have everything I need; I don't have to blackmail people to get what I want."

"Well well. If you don't wanna use that for you, at least use your privileges for me" concluded Angel, blinking innocently.

The black haired girl didn't say anything for a long moment. Her pretty, violet eyes fixated on her friend's face, and she crossed her arms across her chest in an unhappy gesture.

"Come one, don't get mad at me." Angel moaned.

"…"

"You are gonna like it. I promise."

"I'm going to your concert, but promise me you are not doing this again." Izzie finally yielded.

"Love ya!" Angel howled. She jumped forward to squeeze Izzie tightly between her thin arms. Even though she was shorter and skinnier than her friend, she surely had a lot of strength in that little body.

Izzie coughed, "Hmp! I'm not breathing"

"Oops.." Angel released her friend and smiled sheepishly at her. "Well, since you are coming to the concert, I have to introduce you the band. Come!" Angel took Izzie to the opposite wall of her room, where a big poster was pasted on the wall.

There they were four persons standing against a black wall with graffiti of a green diamond. It prayed: _Innocence_ in red letters in the middle of the diamond. Underneath it, the name of the album was written down with the same graffiti letters: _Akuma_

That exotic word called Izzie's attention, even though she was rather interested on classic music and piano songs instead of all that rock and punk shows. She was about to ask what Akuma meant, but her friend didn't let her open her mouth.

"This one in the corner, the one with the white hair, is Allen Walker. He plays the keyboard and an awesome keytar." explained Angel, pointing to a young boy with grey eyes and white hair. He seemed to be the youngest one and was holding a black keytar across his body. As well as the rest of the group, he was dressed in black clothes: black trousers with a black, long-sleeved shirt, jerkins and dark gloves.

"Next comes Lenalee Lee, she is Chinese. She plays the guitar and is one of the two principal voices in the band. She is really pretty, don't you think?" asked Angel, giving Izzie a sideways glance.

The girl was pretty, Izzie decided. She had long, dark hair fixed in two high ponytails. The black, sleeveless blouse outlined perfectly her body against the green diamond, and the leather skirt alongside black tights bestowed her a rebellious air, which contrasted with the sweetness of her features.

Izzie was not paying a lot of attention, truth be told. She was just staring at those strangers without being familiarized with that kind of music and style, so the girl just nodded.

"Well and then comes the sexiest man on Earth: Lavi Bookman!" Angel pointed to a tall, red-haired man who was wearing a black eye-patch. The visible eye glimmered with a green light similar to that one of the diamond behind, "He plays the drums, the guitar and is the principal voice in the band. I know, I know, it is weird that a drummer sings, but he is the exception. A sexy exception. Sometimes he leaves the drums to another musician or to this guy, Yuu Kanda."

"What's wrong with his hair?" asked a confused Izzie. The man's black hair was long, even longer than her hair, and fell loosely from a high ponytail.

"Oh, he prefers it like that, I guess. He is Japanese and plays the bass, sometimes he sings, but that's not really frequent. Some girls insist that he is extremely hot, but I found him rather girlish." ended Angel, smiling slyly at her friend.

"Girlish? Not with that hard expression…" Izzie commented nonchalantly, still looking at this…this Kanda.

"What? You like him?" Angel questioned, smiling mischievously at her friend. Izzie shook her head.

Izzie snarled, "Of course not. He is…a rock man. Not my type."

Angel sighed "You should know that there are more things beside books, Beethoven or Mozart. Maybe you get to be his next girlfriend, huh, huh?" teased Angel, poking her friend's arm.

"Never!" Izzie couldn't help but laugh at such folly. His girlfriend? Not until he got a haircut, for sure. And smiled. And maybe learn a little bit of the civilized world.

You can joke, but those jokes can sometimes come true, don't you think?

* * *

A/N: Hey there! Well, it's me (Of course -.-)

I've decided to correct chapters of this story since, err, well, there are awful mistakes throughout it. I wrote it about two years ago, when my English was still a little bit raw and flawed. I still make some sloppy mistakes, but they aren't as frequent or noticeable as before (thanks God)

Anyway, I'll be trying to correct the story during my spare time, although I find it highly improbable to finish fixing the whole document. Why? Because I'm a lazy bastard. Thus, I beg for your pardons for any mistake in the future chapters. My first language is not English, so, yeah, that sucks.

Basically, the kind of mistakes you may find are:

-Poor syntax.

-Confussion of nouns/verbs.

-Wrong conjugations.

-Bad punctuation (Punctuation is a bitch.)

So, well, that's basically it. I hope you still enjoy this fanfic albeit all these flaws.

Atra esterní ono telduin!


	2. Chapter 2 It's all about Innocence

_Innocence Rock Time! _

Izzie and Angel looked at themselves in the body-length mirror.

Izzie was very smartly dressed, as she used to. She was wearing a black skirt some inches up her knee, dark boots with tall heels, a white blouse accompanied by a black cardigan and a white diadem that held her long dark hair back.

Her father used to tell her that she was a pretty little lady –which made her feel abash-. She had violet eyes and was taller than the average girls of her age. With a rather skinny body and brought up with all type of comforts and luxuries, she was rather delicate and refined.

On the other hand, her friend Angel was dressed in a more casual fashion. She was wearing denim shorts, black sneakers and a shirt with Innocence slogan on it. Her hair was fixed in a high ponytail, making her big brown eyes her most striking feature.

Angel wasn't as tall as Izzie but got close to her height. She wasn't very outgoing either, result of growing up with his tutor, Malcolm C. Leverier, the town's judge. However, after years of friendship with Izzie, they both got along really well.

"Well, ready? Let's go, come on!" exclaimed an excited Angel, hopping cheerfully.

Izzie smiled at her. The only reason why she had accepted to go with her was that she knew the efforts Angel had made in order to get Leverier's permission to attend the concert. The girl had to do all the housework, homework and help her tutor with all type of unnecessary chores. Izzie didn't approve the way Leverier treated Angel, but there was nothing she could do.

Izzie glanced at her wrist-watch, "It's missing an hour…"

"And? Maybe if we arrive early we get a chance to meet them!" Angel retorted, fixing her hair for the umpteenth time.

Izzie rolled her eyes and smiled, "We are meeting them anyway. VIP tickets, remember?"

"Come on, let's go!" sang Angel, without listening Izzie's complains. She grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her down the stairs and out of the house.

An hour later, Izzie and Angel were sitting in their places right in front of the big stage. Persons were arriving from everywhere, and soon the entire building was full of teenagers and young adults, to Izzie's surprise.

Together with the increasing number of people, the noise levels elevated to a ridiculous volume.

"Oh my God! Just fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes" Angel murmured to herself, rocking back and forth on her seat like a five-year-old. Sound engineers were preparing everything for the show, tuning guitars and plugging cables. Persons dressed in black with the word _Staff _written on their backs ran from here to there carrying things and yelling orders.

"Five minutes, five minutes. Aren't you excited, Izzie? We are gonna see them! I am gonna see Lavi!" Angel practically yelled out of pure excitement. Izzie thought that, if she could, the girl would be flying around the place relentlessly.

"Well…I think that if this was Sarah Brightman I would be the one jumping around." Izzie reflected for herself in a low voice.

"Oh, don't be so boring. This is gonna be a thousand times better that Sarah."

"Don't think so…"

"Wait and you'll see. Your boyfriend Kanda is almost up there-" Angel teased, a mischief glimmer attending her brown eyes.

"He is not my boyfriend." Izzie curtly replied, glaring at her friend.

"For now…"

"He is not…"

Suddenly, lights went out. A general scream shook the building; drilling Izzie's ears and making her bones vibrate.

Izzie covered her ears until the world became quiet again. She looked around, only to distinguish colorless figures here and there, all of them standing stiff and breathless, expectant. She could almost hear Angel's heart pounding furiously inside her ribcage.

On the stage, some figures started to shift and stir.

A sweet rhythm started, accompanied by a fast drum sequence.

_They say,_

_they don't trust_

_you, me_

_We, us_

A soft, female voice sang, perfectly tuned and harmonious. Izzie thought it was a rather pleasant sound, albeit the drums' racket.

In that moment, four lights descended from the high lamps and illuminated the four band members.

The crowd roared. Izzie gritted her teeth.

_So we`ll  
Fall  
If we  
Must  
´Cause it's you,  
Me,  
and it's all about, it's all about_

On the front, a young girl, Lenalee Lee, was standing with a red guitar leaned loosely across her body, while her hands gripped the microphone in front of her. Her dark, greenish hair fell down her back, brilliant and smooth. She was wearing a short, black skirt; striped, knee-length socks; short boots and a strapless red shirt.

Truth be told, she looked plainly gorgeous atop that stage.

_It's all about us, all about us  
It's all about, all about us  
All about us  
And that´s the thing that they can´t touch  
'Cause you know (ahw)_

On the left side of the dais, Allen Walker, a short boy with messy white hair was playing the synthesizers as a professional. He was wearing leather gloves, which quite impressed Izzie. She knew it must be really difficult to play with those things on, and she wondered why he wore them at a moment like this. He was dressed like a good England guy, with a white shirt and a waistcoat.

At the back there was a red-haired boy playing the drums, passion and bliss printed all across his face. He had an eye patch, but the other eye shone with a light, green color. He was handsome, and Angel was really containing herself in order not to run over the stage and kiss him.

_It's all about us, all about us  
it's all about, all about us  
all about us  
we'll run away if we must  
´cause you know (ahw)_

Finally, on the right, there was Kanda Yuu, his figure imposing as always. His eyes were lost in the distance although his mind was focused on the black bass he was playing. His dark hair was held back in a long ponytail, and he was wearing black pants with a wine-red shirt that had the first three buttons undone.

_Oh my God! He is even more handsome in person! ,_thought Izzie, breathless and mesmerized.

_It's all about us, it's all about us. They don't know  
they can't see  
who we are,  
fear is the enemy.  
Hold on tight,  
hold on to me  
cause´ tonight_

When the first song ended, the whole crowd screamed. For one moment, Izzie thought she was going to stay deaf for the rest of her life, but, unfortunately, she was still able to hear Angel shrieking,

"It's them! It's them! It's ALL ABOUT INNOCENCE!" she sang enthusiastically, lifting her arms up in the air.

"I don't know if I should laugh or run away…" Izzie chuckled, her face contorted in an expression that suggested fear.

"Hello, good night everyone!" greeted Lenalee through the microphone "We hope you are enjoying this concert, because we prepared it to be the most awesome show of your lives!"

The crowd roared wildly again.

"Unless you decide to go backstage with us. That is pretty awesome especially when Yuu starts changing his clothes" teased Lavi. Angel screamed hysterically and Izzie thought for a moment the girl was going to faint from emotion.

"Shut the fuck up, stupid rabbit, or I'm leaving you naked on the street." Kanda snapped, glowering at the redhead boy.

"YES PLEASE!" someone yelled from the back.

Angel let out a little laugh, as well as half a hundred people.

"Oh, so you want a real show, ladies?" Lavi seductively asked through the microphone. Suddenly, he started to unbutton the top part of his green shirt.

Whistles and different type of exclamations were heard all over the place. Izzie realized her face had become hot from embarrassment, and Angel was completely out of control.

Lenalee cleared her throat, "Let's play another song, no?" she suggested, smiling. The crowd's reaction was a combination of refusals and support, which Lenalee took as a good sign, for she turned around to Lavi.

"Okay, this song was written by Lavi-chan but I'm the one singing it because I sing better, so please don't think I'm lesbian or something like that because I'm not." She smiled sweetly at the public, and then shouted, "_All the things she said_!", and the music started again.

_All the things she said_

_All the things she said_

_Running through my head_

_Running through my head_

_Running through my head_

Incredibly, Izzie started to enjoy herself. She laughed at their arguments and conversation, and even liked some songs. Here, at this place, with these persons, everything seemed to be different…new. It was a totally strange world which she had never known until that moment.

But her joy was barely compared to Angel's. The young girl sang all the songs, screamed, jumped and danced. It seemed like she could die of happiness right now.

At the middle of the show, when all the spectators seemed to have gone wild, Lavi left the drums and started singing in front of all. He was only a few meters away from Angel, and the girl tended her arms to him like a yearning child. Izzie couldn't help but smirk at the sight.

_Hey Mr. DJ  
You gotta put a record on, yeah  
We're gonna bury this town tonight  
We're gonna dance all night_

"Oh my God! It's Lavi, Izzie, it's Lavi! Oh my God! He is coming our way…he is looking at me… Oh God…LAVI-KUN!" yelled the hysteric Angel, suddenly oblivious of Izzie's existence.

Lavi crouched down just in front of Angel and sang in a lower voice, his eyes fixed on the girl and the girl only. It was as if he was singing to her, and Angel, literally, stopped breathing.

_I'm ready, I'm ready  
Just get it, let's get it  
(ready for the move)_

Suddenly, unexpectedly, and in front of everybody's eyes, he kissed Angel. It was barely a peck, but that was enough for Angel to stay ecstatic. Lavi smiled wickedly at her and leapt back up, ready for the next song.

Everybody stretched their heads to look at the fortunate girl, and Izzie could even distinguish some envious glares from the fangirls around. Ignoring them, she approached her friend and shook her shoulder gently.

"Angel? Still on Earth?"

"Oh . My. God. I will never wash my mouth again. THIS IS THE HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE!" Angel yelled, tears jolting from her eyes.

But their happiness was about to end. Outside the building, a plan was taking place; a plan that would change their entire lives.

* * *

A/N: So? What do you think? Leave your reviews!

Songs used here were: All about us and All the things she said from T.a.t.u and Send my love to the dance floor (Hey Mr DJ) from Cobra Starship.

Sayonara!


	3. Chapter 3 The City is at War

**Well, here is the new chapter. Hope you are enjoying this :) I know is a bit long, and I promise they will be shorter from now on. The songs used here are: Guilty Pleasure and The City is at War from Cobra Starship. and DGM is not mine.**

**Enjoy and leave your reviews!**

* * *

"Disperse on the surroundings. Team red, you enter by the left door; team blue, you enter by the right. When I tell you, release the gas bombs. I am getting the Major's girl" whispered a man under his black balaclava.

The sound of the concert that was taking place inside the building was muffled by the thick walls that separated the men from their objective.

"Captain, shall we take her friend too?" asked one of the Red team men, dressed completely in black, from head to toes in order to camouflage themselves in the darkness.

"No. Just take Izzobel Fletcher. Leverier will take care of his own daughter later. Ready?"

The ten men divided in two groups of four –Blue and Red- and the Captain stayed alone.

They were there to kidnap Izzobel Fletcher, also called Izzie, the next Major's daughter.

* * *

_And I came here to make you dance tonight_

_I don't care about my guilty pleasure for you_

_Shut up cause' we won't stop_

_And we're getting down till' the sun's coming up._

"OOOH YEAAAH!~" screamed Lavi, raising his fist in the air with a big smile on his face.

The crowd went crazy. Angel went crazy too, screaming louder than ever, especially after her kiss with the vocalist.

Izzie was the only one who thought she might stay deaf for the rest of her life. She was not only surrounded by the screams of hundreds and hundreds of fans, but also the loudspeakers and amplifiers boomed right in front of her face.

She was getting dizzy.

Why did she accept to go?

"Well, well, are you having fun?" asked Lavi with his never-ending enthusiasm.

Izzie and Angel found themselves in the middle of a big roar.

"Then, I must play this new song that Yuu-chan, ehem…sorry….amm Kanda and me wrote" the redheaded corrected himself down the killer look of the mentioned musician.

"UUUUY LAVI AND YUU~" someone cored from the back, and Allen played the wedding march on his keyboard.

"I'm gonna put that stupid keyboard into your pale ass, moyashi!" yelled an angry Kanda.

"I know you are dying to touch my ass, but I'm not on that side, BaKanda" answered Allen, smiling.

"It's not like I wanna get AIDS because of touching your fuckin' ass"

"Hey, calm down, boys!" ordered Lenalee, trying to cool things. "The City is at War, Lavi?" smiled the Chinese girl, already preparing her guitar.

Izzie heard to all of those argues and wondered how people didn't get offended with such a display of vocabulary and hatred. Kanda was suddenly losing points in her estimate. Not that he had too much, since Izzie didn't really know him, but it was a shame that a terribly hot man like him was so aggressive and impulsive.

But then, she realized that kind of fights were part of the show, not that that helped Kanda a bit now.

"THE CITY IS AT WAR! Give some rhythm Lena-lady" Lavi jumped and landed almost in front of Angel, interrupting Izzie's thoughts, and started singing…

_The city is at a war_

_Plays of all the young and rich_

_Ignore me if you see me 'cause I just don't give a shit_

_The city is at war_

_Bless the young and rich_

_With designer drugs and designer friends_

Screams were heard coming from the back of the auditorium, but nobody paid attention to them, not even Izzie or Angel, since screaming was the more common activity there.

_The city is at a war_

_Plays of all the young and rich_

_Ignore me if you see me 'cause I just don't give a shit_

_The city is at war_

_Bless the young and rich_

_With designer drugs and designer friends_

Screams grew louder and louder. From the stage, Innocence members could see a white smoke rising through the air. They looked at each other worried, but decided to keep on with the concert.

_Here's how it goes_

_It's about who you know_

_If you got money you get in for free_

_Get on your knees if you wanna reach the top_

_The party never stops (never stops!)_

_Don't stop now (don't stop now!)_

"What's going on? That doesn't sound normal…" said Izzie, who turned around to watch the scene. Many heads blocked her view, but she clearly saw the white gas rising up.

"Angel…look" she touched her friend's shoulder to get her attention, but Angel was lost in admiration to Lavi.

_Come on!_

_Stick around and see how it ends_

_Get the money and run_

_And meet me at the parking lot_

_Bang bang! Shoot 'em up, yeah_

An explosion was barely heard, muffled by the drums and guitar noise, but Izzie's senses were sensitive now that she was alert. Another column of that strange white gas took place at her right, and the screams turned out into coughs. Angel finally reacted, looking around like she had just woken up.

"What's…"

"We have to get out before…" started Izzie, but a hand covered her mouth and started pulling her backwards while Angel was distracted.

_The city is at a war_

_Plays of all the young and rich_

_Ignore me if you see me 'cause I just don't give a shit_

_The city is at war_

_Bless the young and rich_

_With designer drugs and designer friends_

"Yeah? Izzie?" Angel turned around to look for her friend, but she couldn't see anything between that white smoke started covering everything. Angel coughed and walked around, calling her friend's name.

"Izzie? Izzie?"

The music had already stopped, but its rhythm still echoed inside Kanda's head. He had no idea of what the fuck was going on, but everybody around was panicked, including Lenalee and Lavi. They had been taken down the stage by security and now were heading backstage, to a safe place.

"What was that? Do you think the persons are fine outside?" asked concerned Allen.

"Maybe we should go back to help…" suggested Lavi, who was hugging a scare Lenalee.

"Security is evacuating the auditorium, don't worry. You should go back to your bus" said the security captain, a tall man dressed in black who was guiding the musicians to the exit, while yelling some orders to his team.

"My precious Lenalee! Are you fine? Come here with your bro" exclaimed Komui, their manager, running to them with his arms in air and crying.

"Yes, nii-san. Don't worry" answered Lenalee with a huge drop appearing on her neck.

Someone screamed behind their backs. It sounded louder and closer than the general noise coming from the auditorium.

"HEEY YOU! IZZIE!" a girl voice yelled.

"LEAVE ME, LEAVE ME YOU STUPID BIG PIG!"

Everybody turned around and Kanda, Lavi, Allen and the security captain ran to the place.

There was the figure of a man dressed in black with a balaclava covering his head. The only thing they could see was his little black eyes. He was carrying a young girl, pressing her body against him, while the girl struggled in order to set herself free. Another girl, a little bit shorter than the first one, was hitting the man with her purse.

"LEAVE ME!" the tall girl was almost crying and panic could be heard in her voice. The man pushed the other girl away and took a syringe from a pocket. Without releasing his prey, he took the top off and injected it in Izzie's neck. The girl screamed for a short moment before her eyes closed.

"IZZIE! NO!" Angel stood up but stopped when the man pointed her with a pistol.

"Security! Leave the girl" shouted the Captain James, pointing the man, who turned around and pointed everybody with his pistol. But he was alone. A group of eight polices surrounded him. One of them surprised him by the back and pulled his arms, releasing Izzie. The unconscious girl fell to the floor and Angel ran to help her.

"Hahaha you can get me, but this has just started. The Fletcher family is lost." laughed the criminal while he was taken away.

"Investigate the man. And take the girls to a safe place" ordered Captain James, serious.

"They can come with us to the bus. I don't think anyone is gonna go there, considering the Security System Komui hired" said Lavi in a kind voice.

"Yes. We have no problem, right?" added Allen, looking around for support. Kanda just grunted, Lenalee smiled and Komui nodded.

"Thank you" murmured Angel, ignoring for the moment that Lavi Bookman had invited her to Innocence's bus.

"You're welcome. Yuu-chan, will you have the kindness to carry the other lady?"

"Che, why don't you do it?"

"Because you need to learn how to be a gentleman and this is a good start~ And I'm showing our other friend the way" answered the red-haired boy, passing an arm over Angel's shoulders. She blush a little, but didn't react at all, as she was extremely worried for her friend.

"Che" was all Kanda grunted. He kneeled for a moment and carried the fainted girl.


	4. Chapter 4 Butterflies and Hurricanes

**Okay, here is the new chapter! Thank you for following me till' here! and thank you for your reviews, they are a great motivation! That's why I keep on writing, so don't doubt in leaving a comment of something, and suggesting any song you like! This is a story of anyone who wants to participate! **

**Read and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: DGM is not mine. Neither the song used here, which is Butterflies and Hurricanes- Muse. The piano solo is really great in this song!**

* * *

The Turkey March woke her up.

Her head was aching and she felt it like it weighted almost a ton. She moved around groaning, without any intention to wake up. Her mouth was dry and her whole body seemed to be asleep as well as her thoughts.

"Look, she's waking up" a female voice said. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember why. Where was she?

"Izzie? Izzie, thank God, are you okay? How do you feel?" another voice spoke, this time closer to her ear.

"Mmmhh…"

"Can you hear me?" Izzie recognized that voice as Angel's one.

The Turkey March sounded again at the back of the place.

"Che, if you don't turn off that stupid phone I'm gonna throw it through the window" someone complaint from a place at her left.

"It is…my…mobile…" Izzie whispered, since her throat hurt really badly and her tongue was furry. She tried to open her eyes and focus her vision, but they just closed again and again. Soon, she was asleep.

* * *

_Change everything you are  
And everything you were  
Your number has been called_

Her head felt wide awake finally.

Izzie opened her eyes and focused on what she had over her head. It was a metallic ceiling, with some kind of boxes for ventilation and a skylight that was closed in that moment.

A continue buzz annoyed her and she felt dizzy, but decided not to pay attention. She sat down and looked around.

She had been lying in some kind of folding bed that was really comfortable. On her right was the empty space on the wall where the bed can be folded and saved.

"Finally! How are you feeling?" asked a concerned Angel, who was entering the small room. She was carrying a plate full of food.

"Amm… alive? I'm not exactly sure. Where are we? What happened?" asked Izzie, looking around at the weird place where she had been sleeping. It was tiny, and everything seemed to be constantly moving. There was nothing stored in there, actually, just a shelf that served as a night table, some luggage and cases.

"We are on Innocence's bus! Can you believe it?" answered an excited Angel, trying to low her voice and sitting beside Izzie in the bed.

"Innocence's bus? Why?"

"Don't you remember?" Angel turned into serious mode.

"Remember? What do…Oh" suddenly, images of the auditorium, the gas and smoke, the kidnapping and the men in black assaulted her mind. Izzie trembled for a while and touched her neck. She made a pain expression when her finger pressed the point where the man had injected her.

_Fights and battles have begun  
Revenge will surely come  
Your hard times are ahead_

"Yes…fortunately, Lavi-san offered us their bus. We tried to get to your home but…" Angel's expression turned sad and she looked away from Izzie, without being able to meet her friend's eyes.

"But what?" a shiver ran down Izzie's spine.

Angel smiled like apologizing for something "Something weird is going on. When we arrived to your house, there was no one in there, not even the guards of the entrance. But don't worry, your father called and said he was okay, but for the moment he was unable to meet with you"

_Best, you've got to be the best  
You've got to change the world  
And use this chance to be heard  
Your time is now_

_Change everything you are_  
_And everything you were_  
_Your number has been called_

It felt like a bucket of cold water had fell over her. Izzie's breathe went away for a pair of seconds before she recovered with the same speed she had reacted.

She adopted a serious and calm countenance, hiding perfectly her emotions, her fear and perplexity.

"Can I call him?" she asked.

"Mmm…he said he preferred that you didn't use your phone in these moments. You see, some persons, the same that tried to kidnap you back in the concert, are seeking you and I think your father is in some kind of trouble; they have technological equipment and can track any call you make and find your exact position"

"But my father called me. If he is sure that they can track me, he mustn't had done that"

"He was worried in those moments, and we are moving right now to another place because of that call he made"

"But I need to know about him…you know, Angel, he is my only family…" panic started running down Izzie's throat. Fear and nervousness flood over her body.

"I know…But he is fine, I'm sure. It hasn't been an hour since he called, if that calms you a little"

"…"

"Do you want to eat something?" offered Angel, showing Izzie the plate she had in her hands. It consisted on spaghetti and a sandwich, but Izzie was feeling still dizzy, so she shook her head.

"Where are we going now? To your house?" she asked.

Angel's face seemed surrounded by a shadow.

"Is everything okay?" Izzie started worrying again.

"Malcolm doesn't answer his phone. I went to my house but no one was there. It's like he had been swallowed by the earth…"

Izzie smiled comprehensively, her mind already working on some idea so they both could survive to that kind of abandon and what must have been done.

"But let's see the good part. Lavi-san and Komui-san had offered us to travel with them. They are discussing that right now in the kitchen…or the thing that seems to be a kitchen. Come" Angel helped Izzie to stand up and guided her to one of the doors.

They appeared in a small space. On both sides there were litters with some cases on them that indicated they were owned by some member of the band. A little cushion was in front of a small kitchen that consisted just on a grill, a kitchen sink, some doors that served as larder and a small fridge.

On the front of the bus there were four seats, one of them reserved for the driver that was Komui in those moments.

"Poor girls…what do you think is going on? Everything is so suspicious…" commented Lenalee.

"I think it's none of our business, Lena-lady, but they need help. Maybe they can spend some days with us" suggested Lavi with a smile.

"Che, they can bring trouble. They already ruined one of our concerts. You should let them with their own problems and we must move on" Kanda's tone was hard, clearly annoyed by the situation.

"They need help. You won't like to be alone in a situation like this, or yes, BaKanda?" asked Allen, being a little more serious than normal.

"I won't need strangers helping me" answered the bassist.

"You never know" said Lavi "Hey, there you are!" he greeted the two girls that appeared by the door. "How're ya' feelin?" he asked kindly to the raven girl.

"Better, thank you" she answered politely.

"Did you rest enough?" smiled Lenalee.

"Yes, thanks. Are we interrupting?" Izzie had heard them arguing before Angel and she appeared in the scene. Angel had sit down in the big cushion, admiring Lavi in secret.

"No, of course not. Come, sit down" Allen offered his sit, standing up and pointing the sofa.

"Thank you" accepted Izzie, grateful because her head hadn't stop spinning around.

"Hey! You can say more things than just 'thank you'! Come on, girl, you are travelling with us! Join the party!" exclaimed Lavi, raising his arms happily. Angel giggled a little and Lavi noticed it. "I love this girl! Let's dance!" he stood up and took Angel's hands. They both started turning and dancing in the small space left between the kitchen and the seats.

"Che, stupid rabbit. Why the fuck am I here?" complained Kanda, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"I'd offer you my hand to dance, but I don't wanna be sexually abused" teased Allen with a big smile.

"You really wanna be gay, right, moyashi?" asked sarcastically Kanda.

"No, I don't wanna have you falling in love with me"

"I'm gonna kill you!"Kanda suddenly jumped in Allen's direction and tried to grab him by the neck, but the young boy moved apart just in time. Kanda's head hit the principal door loudly.

"Oh God, are they fine?" asked Izzie, standing up and looking over her seat to the place of the collision.

"Don't worry, this is normal in them. You'll get used to this fights" Lenalee winked.

Like reassuring Lenalee's words, Kanda recovered himself and ran after Allen right into the only room that existed in the bus. The sound of things crashing bangs and knocks were clearly heard.

Some seconds later, Kanda exited the room cleaning his hands in his pants. He took his place of before and closed his eyes.

Allen appeared after him, with a small smile on his face. "I better go to sleep. Good night, guys" and he climbed into one of the litters.

_Don't let yourself down  
Don't let yourself go  
Your last chance has arrived_

_Best, you've got to be the best_  
_You've got to change the world_  
_And use this chance to be heard_  
_Your time is now_


	5. Chapter 5 The sock criminal

**So...here it comes the next chapter! I know this is a little bit out of the context, but I thought it may be funny...hopefully (Cross fingers) but well, just read! :D**

**And Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**

**Disclaimer: DGM is not mine**

'_first person talking'_

* * *

'_Snores. They never stop. All over the bus. It is the same all nights since I arrived here. I can't remember when I last had a good night sleep in peace and silence. I have spent the last three days worrying and rummaging around, without participating much in what all of them do, I just want to go home._

_Another snore, this time especially noisy, takes me out of my thoughts and makes me grunt. _

_I am not standing this anymore. _

_I stand up and look around; searching for something that can help me making they just shut up. _

_Socks. _

_I think they are the Allen's dirty socks that he left on the floor before going to bed. _

_It is disgusting and I wouldn't do such a thing in normal circumstances, but I haven't slept in three days and I am desperate. _

_I take the pair of socks in my hands and walk to the bunk where Lavi and Kanda sleep._

_Lavi is just in position, with his mouth open and lying on his back. He snores just one more time and…sock inside. _

_The next snore is muted by the dirty cloth._

_Next, I climb the short ladder unto Kanda's bunk. Shit. He is asleep, facing the wall and giving the back to me, like the good antisocial creature he is. I smoothly try to turn his head to me, but I lose balance and almost fall over him, making some noise. _

_I gasp when he starts moving, his body rolling to the other side, right to my direction. I remain in my position, ready for his reaction. _

_His eyes are still closed, he opens his mouth and…_

_Another snore interrupts the night's peace._

_I stay ecstatic until I am sure he is deeply asleep._

_So…_

_Sock. Mouth._

_Silence. Holy silence._

_I go back to my place and get some sleep for the first time'_

* * *

"WHAT THE FUCK?" a man voice yelled. "WHACK, EWWK, WHOSE FUCKING SOCK IS THIS!" Kanda's screams were heard all over the bus. He got down and threw the dirty sock violently away.

"mmh?...mmm?" Lavi woke up and tried to speak, but his words were drowned by the clothing inside his mouth. He stayed eyes-closed and started crying and moving convulsively on his bed.

"What's going on?" Allen asked, yawning.

"I hope this is not your fucking sock or I am going to cut your two fucking feet!" exclaimed Kanda, grabbing Allen by the neck.

"What's the big deal, BaKanda?" asked Allen, confusion in his eyes.

"That's the damned deal!" Kanda pointed Lavi for all answer.

Allen looked at the man, who was rolling in his bed and crying.

"What happened? Were you playing, huh?" teased Allen.

"Shut the fuck up, I'm not in the mood"

"Are you ever in the mood?"

Kanda grunted and reached the kitchen's sink, where he started cleaning furiously his mouth.

Allen, on the other hand, stared at the hysterical Lavi for some seconds, enjoying for a while his drama show.

"What the heck did you do to him, BaKanda, some kind of dirty game? That's new in you."

"Che" A wet paper met Allen's face.

The boy shook his head with a smile and took the sock out of Lavi's teeth.

"THEY GOT US! WE'RE GONNA DIE! PLEASE, LET ME GO! I'M TOO SEXY TO DIE LIKE THIS, TAKE THE MOYASHI BUT LEAVE ME! WAAAAH!"

"Amm…should I be scared?" asked Angel who had just woken up.

"Lavi? Are you okay?" Allen touched Lavi's shoulder.

"Allen? Is it you or is your ghost? I WASN'T SERIOUS WITH THE TAKE-MOYASHI THING! Please, don't hate me! Tell the police I am alive!" Lavi kept on sobbing, his eyes still closed.

"What's all that noise?" Lenalee walked out the only room, which she shared with Komui. The manager walked behind his sister out of the door.

They both observed how Kanda threw a glass of water over Lavi's face. The redhead boy opened his eyes and looked around to the consternated faces that were watching him.

"OH GOD, YOU ARE ALIVE!" Lavi hugged Kanda and cried of happiness.

"Get your fucking dirty hands off me" exclaimed the bassist and pushed Lavi away, then, returned to washing his mouth.

"Lena-lady, Komui-san, Allen, Angel, you are alive! Oh, wait, we are in the bus. This is a miracle! Where were we? Who kidnapped us?"

"No one kidnapped us, Lavi" answered Lenalee.

"But…I was gagged!" the boy expression was of pure horror.

"No, you weren't. Someone just put a dirty sock into your fucking mouth" explained Kanda, pointing the socks on the floor.

Lavi turned around and watched them.

"Who is the cruel person who did it? And why?" he was about to sob again.

"Someone who has the common sense and the courage to make you both shut up. You are really noisy, guys" commented Lenalee.

"But it was cruel!"

"Cruel but fair. Now, let's prepare some breakfast, Kanda, move away from the kitchen. You can use the bathroom if you want" Komui tried to put order and searched for things to prepare some eggs.

"And, Izzie-chan, wake up darling" he moved the girl who was sleeping in the couch in front of the kitchen with the pan he had just taken out. She slowly opened her eyes and yawned.

"Five more minutes" she pretended to sleep again, but caught the eyes of everyone in the bus.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"We must find the guilty" Lavi's voice was deep when he took one sock to show it to the rest of them, like the evidence of a terrible crime.

**Well, it is short, I know, I haven't had enough head these days. Hope you like it and...who do you think is the criminal? I think it is too obvious, but let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6  Gone

**Too long, too long, too long, too long, dammit! *shot***

* * *

"So…confess, you know who you are! Tell us why you did such a horrible, dirty and disgusting thing! The court is listening" Lavi's countenance was serious and grave.

"Oh, come on, is not like someone killed the president. And the reason why _this _person did it is because even nii-san and I can hear your snores in our dorm room. You are quite too noisy" explained Lenalee, smiling with confidence; she knew that everyone accorded with her.

They were gathered around a table in a private section of a restaurant, so anyone would bother the musicians while they were having dinner.

Angel felt like walking in the waters of an impossible dream. This was the first time in three days –three unbelievable and amazing days- that they went out of the bus into some public place. She would never forget the glares that so many persons darted in their direction when they stepped into the local:

It was a pretty and small restaurant in the middle of nowhere, just beside the road. For being in the outskirts of some unknown town, it was very clean and the atmosphere was warm. Many families that were travelling were eating there, and since they were in the middle of summer vacations, it was quite concurred.

Everyone almost stopped eating and stared at the group that walked through the tables. A bunch of teens, most of them girls, ran in their direction with papers, pens, cellphones and cameras. They all wanted some proof that what they were looking was entirely real.

Kanda had glared them and spitted out: "Not now" with a harsh voice. They all stopped, surprised by the fact that Kanda Yuu, Innocence's hot bassist had actually _spoken_ to them.

Lavi and Allen just smiled apologetic, and sighs of admiration and illusion were heard all around.

"_He is so cute!"_

"_Extremely hot"_

"_More sexy in person"_

"_And Lenalee Lee, she is really pretty"_

"_A very sexy and hot woman, I wonder how good she is.._" Whoever was making that comment was shut up by Komui's dark aura. He walked into the young man that had been talking, just some years younger than the manager.

"What did you just said of my _sister_?" his voice suggested death.

"Do you have any problem, man?" the guy stood up, without releasing Komui's eyes.

The manager took the man by the collar of his shirt.

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up. And stay away of my sister" he released the poor youngster, who had turned pale down Komui's anger.

"Why don't we just get in and eat?" Lenalee spoke when his brother returned to them, trying to keep everyone calmed.

Lavi, Allen and Kanda were about to be squashed by the growing group of hormones.

Angel and Izzie were the center of many jealous and curious eyes, and none of them felt comfortable at all.

"Are you Lavi's and Allen's girlfriends?" a girl asked, she couldn't have more than 10 years. Incredible she actually knew the band.

"Oh well, I cannot say anything for myself, but my friend here is Kanda's little lover" smiled Angel, hugging Izzie.

"Really?" The girl's eyes widened and she stared blankly at Angel's best friend.

"What? No! No, of course not, she is just making up things" Izzie tried to defend herself, but the rumor was spreading fast...

"Is it true?"

"The lucky one!"

"How good is he at kissing?"

"I thought he was gay"

"How did Lavi took it?"

And other commentaries and gossips that Izzie wished she hadn't heard.

"What does _she _have of special?"

"Isn't she Mayor's Fletcher daughter?"

"She is not even pretty!"

Izzie's nerves warmed up. She had never liked being the center of attention, she hated crowds and noise and gossips and people talking at the same time. She hated lots of people together. A headache was growing inside her.

"I, no, he is not my boyfriend…no…you are getting it wrong, that's not…no, I mean…let me finish…yes, I mean, no…But" she was trying to be patient but…for God's sake "I AM NOT KANDA'S GIRLFRIEND AND WILL NEVER BE, UNDERSTOOD IT?"

The people around her stopped talking and watched the girl in silence, while she calmed down. Izzie put a hand in her forehead, covering her eyes. "I'm sorry…is just that…I am not feeling quite good"

"Come here, darlings. We are waiting for you" Komui put a hand on each shoulder of the both girls that were travelling with them, a comprehensive look in his eyes. "Why don't you go back to eat, your food must be cold by now" he suggested warmly to the teens that were around them, which slowly got dispersed.

Izzie and Angel discovered that they were the only ones of the travelling band that remained in the local; the others had entered into a private room where no one could bother them.

* * *

"Come on, spit it out!" Lavi's hand slamming the table took Angel out of her thoughts. She looked silently around.

The room was small, with just one large table where they barely accommodated themselves. Izzie was beside her, with her head hidden in her palms. On the other side there was Komui; Lenalee in front of him, then, just in front of Angel, Lavi, followed by Kanda and, finally, Allen was sitting down on the head of the table.

"It must have been one of those two. That's the only explanation" muttered Kanda, darting furtively looks from Izzie to Angel.

"It's Izzie and Angel, if you haven't noticed it" complained Angel, tired of the depictive treat that the bassist gave them.

"As if I care"

"Oi oi, let's cool things, we are here to discover our criminal" Lavi spoke, rising his palms in a pretend-to-calm gesture.

"We are here to eat" refuted Kanda.

"Beside, my dear Yuu…"

"Stop calling me by that stupid name"

"…we need to know who is the responsible. I bet that the Moyashi has something to do with it" continued Lavi, without paying too much attention to Kanda's complains.

"Why me?" Allen defended.

"Oh well, you had always said that you cannot sleep because it is like a continuous concert in your dreams" exposed Komui.

"But if I was that desperate, I'd have done that so many years ago. Actually, if maybe I had ever thought of that…mm…But I am not the guilty!"

"See? He even recognizes that the idea taunts him…" Lavi said, pointing Allen's face.

"I never said such a thing!"

"…and look at that innocent face, it must have something hidden…"

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"…if it is not gayness or sexual attraction to Kanda…"

"That is you, Lavi-san" Allen replied, without being really heard.

"Che, fucking idiot" Kanda spitted out

"…then it must be kidnapping and homicidal tendencies together with madness and an nonsensical hatred to snores, people who snore and maybe some trauma behind it!"

"A very brilliant conclusion, Lavi" said Lenalee sarcastically.

"Well, it has sense, since they were Allen's socks the ones that were used" added Angel, supporting Lavi's theory.

"Angel, you too? Oh, come on, anyone could have taken those socks, I just threw them to the floor before going to sleep"

"And that's why we should name you the guilty one" spoke Kanda, his eyes closed and his arms crossed in front of his chest in a –I don't care- position. "Because of leaving your fucking socks everywhere"

"We are here to discuss the fact that they were in your mouth, not in the floor. I think Angel did it" accused Allen, pointing the girl with a head movement.

"Hey! I didn't do anything"

"You were complaining one day about those snores" refuted Allen.

"That's not true! I am used to snores!"

"No one is used to snores" commented Lenalee from the other side of the table.

"Just people who snore, and I haven't heard Angel snore" added Lavi, a serious look in his face.

"That doesn't have any sense!"

"Just as me putting those socks inside their mouths after all this time sleeping with them!" Allen added. "Maybe it was Lenalee-chan?"

"You'd have heard the door, is as simple as that" Lenalee shrugged. "Why don't we just let this run? There's no sense on trying to discover the guilty one, the action is done"

"NO! This is a horrible crime whose protagonist must be found!" Lavi remarked his phrase slamming the table again, this time harder than the first one.

"Okay okay, I did it! Just shut everyone up!" Izzie finally exploded, rising her head and looking all the surprised faces around.

"Izzie? You?" Angel stared at her face, sincerely surprised. She would have never guessed such an action coming from her friend. She: Izzobel Fletcher, the girl who has never broken a plate.

"They didn't shut up! Never! It was like a nightmare. I haven't slept in three damned days; I don't know where is my father; I can't go back home; they tried to kidnap me during my first damned concert which I never wanted to attend and now I'm travelling with two persons that annoy all night long and stupid fans that don't know when they should just leave and my head is about to explode! It is just enough!" Izzie stood up and walked out the little room and out the restaurant. People stared at her until she disappeared from their sights, surprised to see her leaving alone.

Inside the private section, everyone stood silent, looking at each other blankly. They had never expected such a reaction from Izzie, she had acted so calmly and natural the last days, maybe not talking too much and too taciturn, but they had never seen any worry or anxious flowing across her face, her expression was always sooth and dreamy.

"Maybe I should go…" Angel stood up, but she felt something grabbing her wrist.

"Maybe she'd prefer staying alone, don't you think?" Komui's expression was smooth, but Angel could see worry in his eyes.

"I don't think so. Excuse me" Angel exited the place without hesitation.

"Che, I told you not to bring them, they only bring damned problems" Kanda claimed after the waiter left their food in front of them, Izzie's and Angel's plates in their respective places.

"But she seemed so calmed and cool" Lavi was still in shock because of Izzie's reaction, the sock theme forgotten by the events.

"She was clearly hiding her feelings" contested Lenalee, playing with a fried chip before putting it inside her mouth.

"Do you think she is going to be fine?" Allen's concernment was reflected in his eyes, not focused at all in eating as always.

"Che, who cares? Just a childish tantrum"

"Don't be that cold, Yuu…"

The door was abruptly opened.

"Izzie is not there" Angel panted. She waved Izzie's mobile in front of the group, the screen was broken, the image inside distorted by the splattered liquid. "I found it on the parking lot, behind a black car that has just left"

* * *

_**"What's gonna happen?" Allen asked, upset by the fact that the story had been cut in that way and they'd have to wait a pair of days to know the rest.**_

_**"I don't know, but I've got the feeling that this is gonna be interesting" Lavi was jumping hiperactevely around. "I can't wait! Hope they find Izzie-chan!" he crossed his fingers.**_

_**"What makes you think that the readers want to find that stupid girl?" Kanda's harsh voice interrupted the excitment around.**_

_**"Because she is my best friend!" Angel wandered around, many ideas of the possible ending flying inside her head.**_

_**"And I think she is going to have a relevant role in all of this. Don't be so hard, Kanda-san. I know you are anxious to know what's next" Lenalee's voice spoke.**_

_**"We are not going to know what happens next until this fucking and crazy writer receives some fucking reviews. SO CLICK THAT BUTTON, YOU LOSER!" **_

_**'Slap Kanda' **_

**_A/N _DON'T BE SO RUDE, KANDA YUU! Haha, well, this chapter resulted longer than planned, as you can see, but I hope you enjoyed it. I don't really like it, since there's not too much action in here neither any song! OMG, where did I leave the songs! I'll try to make this a little more musical... is just that the story...it kind of writes by itself, I hope you understand me. **

**Well, as my dear friend Kanda already said in his aggressive and neurotic way, leave a review! I'd like to know what do you think.**

**And Happy New Year! Best wishes! **


	7. Chapter 7 Follow me down

****

A/N Damnit, they are getting longer...I planned to make this a 5 pages chapter as usual, but while I was typing I found out that I had reached 11 pages, so I stopped there and decided to publish it all, since it'd have been weird to cut it in the middle of the drama xD. Wait for the next chapter :D

**Thank you for all your reviews, they really motivate me. Hazeliebear, thank you again for your song, I 've already listened it and found it pretty cool, but I can't imagine Kanda singing it...I'll have to work that out with him. (Kanda gives Mary an assassin look). Well, thank you all for reading me till' here, hope you like this chapter :D**

**Leave a review, come on! **

**Disclaimer: DGM is not mine (sighs)**

* * *

_Take me take me outta here it makes me  
Feel so, feel so na na nana na_

"Don't touch me! Let me go, you bastards!" Izzie yelled from the back of the car where two boys were grabbing her by the arms.

"Calm down, honey. You are perfectly safe" the driver smiled through the mirror. He had an accent that Izzie identified as Portuguese.

"Of course with three kidnappers, I am perfectly safe." She rolled her eyes. "Let. Me. Go" Izzie struggled against the strong hands that were holding her back.

"Oi oi, you are not going anywhere with that attitude. I thought you were a lady, from what we have heard" the guy on her left said. He was far from good-looking, with long blond hair and a very rock & roll outfit. The other guy was dressed in a similar way, though his hair was short and black.

Izzie continued struggling without paying attention to the boy's commentaries.

"You offend me, darling. We are not kidnappers; we just took advantage of the moment. You see, we know that _someone_ is looking for you, a friend of ours we shall say, and we saw you walking alone in an empty parking lot so…Ta-da! Magic is done. Here we go" The driver explained with a wide smile. He was really handsome; Izzie had to admit it, with tanned dark skin and amber eyes. He was also smartly dressed, which added more enigma to his person.

But she wasn't falling into his charming.

"_Ta-da tú y tus repugnantes amigos_. _Déjame ir.*_ Let me go! Now!" her Spanish flowed out as it always did when she was getting nervous or angry, it was like and impulse, nothing she really could control.

The man that was driving looked at her through the mirror with a smile.

"Woah, that's sexy, you speak Spanish, _querida_*. This is getting interesting, maybe we can hang out on a date before delivering you to the Boss, what do you think?" He winked one of his golden eyes before focusing again on the road.

_Baby baby here we all crazy  
You don't have to worry na na nana na_

"Here you go, Tykki, can't you just concentrate on what we have here?"

"I just want to enjoy with what life gives me, Jasdero, don't be so pissed off. Besides, I'm pretty sure this girl has dreamt at least once to have a date with awesome Tykki Mikk, right, honey?"

"I don't know what the heck you are talking about. Let me go! _Ahora*"_ she spitted.

"Haven't you recognized us?" the black haired guy asked, his eyes opening in surprise.

"Oh yeah, you are my kidnappers. Get your hands off me!" Izzie started struggling again. She kicked one of the boys in a leg and the other on a toe, while she tried to jump to the front of the car.

_So follow me down  
Out of this town  
Girl you're moving way too slow_

"Hey, stop it! We are awesome Noah's Ark members, the best rock band ever, we deserve a little of respect!"

Izzie felt an arm hugging her across her waist and pulling her body backwards. She almost fell over the seat, but managed to hit a boy's face with her elbow and kick someone else in the chest, giving herself some impulse and falling into the driver's seat.

"Hey, don't be so desperate, girl, we'll have time for this…hey, hey, what are ya' doing? Argh!" Tykki made a pain expression when Izzie incorporated herself, one hand on the steering wheel and the other, accidentally of course,…in a place where its pressure was pretty painful for Tykki.

_So follow me down, I'll show you around  
There's a place we gotta go_

Izzie and Tykki fought for the control of the car, which started to move violently from one side to another.

"We are going to die!" Jasdero and Debitto cried from the back.

They were almost out of the road and running into a wall of trees.

_Follow me, follow me  
Fa la-la-la-la  
Fa la-la-la-la_

_

* * *

_"Are you completely sure they took her? Her mobile may had just fallen down while she was running" Komui watched around. They were in the back of the restaurant, right in the place where Angel claimed to have seen the mobile left on the floor. They had asked to the cookers and waiters if they heard anything weird, since the kitchen's door was the one closer to the parking lot.

All of them had answered that everything seemed to have been pretty normal.

Angel shook her head "She is not the kind of girl that wouldn't notice if something fell from her pocket. She is always very careful"

"But in the heat of the moment…" the door behind them opened abruptly, interrupting whatever the manager was saying, and one of the chefs talked to Komui.

"I think I've got something. The dishwasher was throwing the trash when he says he saw something weird. Tyler? They're still here, boy"

A thin blond boy appeared in the door. He was dressed in a white long shirt and apron like all of the workers. Tyler dried his hands nervously in his clothes as he started talking.

"I…well, I didn't see anything quite important…" he started in a nervous voice, glaring all the faces that were in front of him.

"Any information would help, thank you" Komui said in a smooth voice, encouraging the boy to keep on talking.

"Well…I was just…throwing the trash there" Tyler pointed a big container at their right, in one of the corners of the restaurant "When I heard someone gasp. I turned around and saw a man pushing someone inside the car, I think it was a girl because it had long black hair…and that same mobile fell to the floor. The car went away and then she" he pointed Angel "appeared and took up the phone. That's all"

Nobody said anything for some seconds.

"Izzie has long black hair…" Lavi murmured.

Komui nodded "Thank you, Tyler. You helped a lot"

Tyler just made a bow and entered again to the local.

"We must go, maybe we still can get them" Angel suggested, looking around in search of support.

"It is dangerous, especially if they've got weapons" Komui replied, already thinking of some plan, but he couldn't make anything out.

"But we can't leave Izzie! We _must _go!" Angel's voice broke a little and a tear appeared on her cheek, but she wiped it out.

"We '_must'_ no. This is your problem, kids, not ours" answered Kanda coldly, and then walked indifferently to the restaurant entrance.

"Don't be like that, BaKanda, just because you don't like girls you have no right to abandon them to their fortune like that" Allen teased, but without the usual humor in his voice.

"Why the fuck they didn't take you? They'd do a favor to the world" Kanda turned to give the boy an angry gaze.

"I'm too good for that"

"Or too stupid"

"Oi, focus here, guys, Angel's right, we can't leave Izzie." Lavi put one hand over Angel's shoulder, squeezing it a little in a supportive gesture.

"We can follow them, but the bus is too slow for that. We need a car" Allen looked around, seeking for a taxi or something that could help them in their mission.

_Dancing, walking clock keeps on talking  
They sing, they sing la la-la-la-la_

"Oh no, what we have to do is call the police" Komui ordered "No one of you is going to expose to death or something worse. They are criminals"

"We are in the middle of nothing! The police will take at least two hours to get here, and by then it'd be too late! We need to do something, and we need to do it _now" _Angel was starting to freak out finally, her body trembling down Lavi's hand.

"I think I can fix that. Wait a moment. And don't interrupt me, nii-san" Lenalee adverted with a hard gaze and walked into the local before Komui could reply to her words. They all followed her with the sight and watched how the girl approached to the table where the group of men Komui had almost killed moments ago were eating and laughing.

They all stopped doing anything they were doing when Lenalee got closer, and stared mouth-opened at the girl that was now watching them in a very seductive way.

"Hey, guys" she reclined in the table and traced circles in the wood with one of her fingers.

Komui's face turned red and tried to jump in their direction, but Lavi stopped him just in time by holding his arms behind his back. Allen helped pushing Komui away from the door.

"Amm…ye…yeah…Lenalee-sama?" One of them answered after splitting some water over the table.

"You see, I've got a little problem here, I was wondering if you could help me" Lenalee's voice was sweet and low as she slowly cleaned some invisible fluff from the man's shoulder.

"Oh…yeah, of course…what…what do you need?" the man was sweating as a pig. Literally.

"I was wondering…if you could borrow me your car. Just for tonight. I promise I'll send it back here, I need to do some urgent errand, if you can understand" Lenalee's lips moved more than necessary.

"Blood…blood…their blood is gonna run" Komui hissed from his place, struggling against Lavi and Allen.

"Oh…well…that's a really big favor" the man answered Lenalee, doubt in his voice now.

"Pleeeasee?" Damn, it was so hard to resist that look.

"Here. You can take mine, there's no problem. I'd stay here. Is the red Volkswaguen, in the third one parked" one of the man's friends spoke finally, and waved his keys in front of Lenalee's noses.

"Ow, thank you, honey. You are really sweet" Lenalee took the keys and kissed the man in one cheek before returning to the rest of her group. "Let's g…"

"LENALEE! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO YOUR POOR BROTHER?" Komui hugged Lenalee by the waist, kneeled down in the floor and crying on her stomach. "THOSE MEN ARE BAD. BAD FOR LENALEE. DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT MY POOR NERVES?"

"Easy, nii-san, we have to fix this first. Lavi, you drive" Lenalee threw the keys in Lavi's direction, and all of them walked back to the parking lot, searching for the red Volkswaguen.

"That? That's a fucking egg" Kanda complained as soon as they saw the little Volkswaguen parked.

"It's the best we have. Come on, there's no time to lose" Angel hurried them into the compact car.

* * *

One of Innocence old songs sounded on the radio.

_Gentlemen and ladies, animals and babies  
We sing, we sing na na na-na-na_

_So follow me down_  
_Out of this town_  
_Girl you're moving way too slow_  
_So follow me down, I'll show you around_  
_There's a place we gotta go_

"GET YOUR FUCKING ASS OFF MY LAP, YOU, STUPID BEANSPROUT!"

"MY ASS IS NOT ON YOUR LAP, YOUR LAP IS UNDER MY ASS, BAKANDA, MOVE AWAY"

"MOVE _YOU_ AWAY, THIS IS MY PERSONAL SPACE!"

"Hey, guys! Allen, your elbow is on my stomach…ouch! Stop moving!" Lenalee was in one side of the back seat, Kanda and Allen in the middle and Komui on the opposite extreme. Lavi was driving while Angel searched for the kidnapper's car from the passenger's seat.

"Stop squeezing me, guys!" Komui's face was stretched against the little window. "I can't breathe"

"MOVE AWAY!"

"YOU MOVE AWAY"

"Stop fighting and move _you both _away"

"BAKANDA, STOP EATING SOBA, YOU ASS EMBRACES TOO MUCH SPACE"

"STOP EXISTING, BEANSPROUT, YOUR PRESENCE EMBRACES TOO MUCH SPACE"

"I don't think this is gonna resist…" Lavi was driving as fast as he could, but the roar the engine emitted every time he tried to change gear indicated that he couldn't force it more.

"There! That's the car…" Angel exclaimed, pointing to a black Mustang that was moving some meters away without any control.

"Where, where, the one that's zigzagging?"

"Oh God, they are gonna crash!"

And as obeying Angel's words, the car was driven right into a tree. The collision wasn't too hard, but soon, smoke started coming out from the engine and the back doors were opened. Two figures ran out from the car and they both reclined on it trying to recover themselves.

Lavi parked on one side, close to the place of the incident. Angel and him got out and walked cautiously to them, pretending to be travelers that were just passing by and saw the accident. The rest of the band got out in the middle of swears and argues, but neither Angel nor Lavi paid attention.

The passenger's door of the black Mustang opened; a figure jumped out and started running away.

"Hey!" a male figure appeared from the driver's side. "Get her, you assholes!"

"Izzie!" Angel ran to the girl now recognizable down the Volkswaguen lights. Izzie saw her and changed direction into Angel's way, but one of the men caught her arm a few meters before she could reach her friend.

"Don't touch me!"

The other two men got closer, and now they all were clearly visible down the white headlights.

"Innocence guys, we see each other again" one of the kidnappers smiled arrogantly.

Angel was left breathless when she recognized the famous face, and his companions.

Tykki Mikk, Debitto and Jasdero: members of Noah's Ark.

Kanda and Lavi grunted.

* * *

Traductions:

*_Ta-da tú y tus repugnantes amigos. Déjame ir _: Ta-da you and your disgusting friends. Let me go

*_Querida: _Darling

_*Ahora: _Now


	8. Chapter 8 Grow up, rabbit!

**Finally! I managed to make a not too long chapter! I don't think is really really good, but I'll let you judge that. Leave a review with your comments, recommendations, insults or whatever you want xD**

**Oh, by the way, the song used on the last chapter was Follow me down-3OH!3 ft. Neon Hitch and the fragment used here is from Grow up-Simple Plan, however, I hope the full song will appear in future chapters.**

**Well, so I leave you to read some of my DGrayMan fantasies haha xD**

* * *

"What brings you here, friends?" asked Tyki, a smile crossing his face.

"I can make you the same fucking question. What the fuck are you doing, motherfuckers?"

"Hey! More respect, you girlish guy!" The blond teen that was grabbing Izzie's arm spitted out, tightening his grip around the girl's skin.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY? REPEAT THAT!" Kanda's countenance was distorted by the anger and hatred.

The atmosphere felt clearly heavy, fire burning inside Innocence's members, especially Lavi and Kanda, but even Allen's usual gentle expression was hardened by a cold look in his gray eyes.

"Cool things down, guys. We were just taking our lovely friend on a trip" Tyki winked on Izzie's direction and caressed her cheek. The girl turned her face abruptly, hitting Tyki's hand with her long hair.

"I told you not to touch me" she exclaimed, resentment flowing beneath her words.

Tyki just giggled. "Don't worry, honey, you are falling someday"

"Yeah, and that's gonna be the Apocalypse day"

Angel had never heard such venom coming out from the lips of her friend. Izzie must be really angry or frustrated to be acting like that.

"Let her go, Tyki. This is not funny" Lavi said in a low aggravated voice.

"I'm sure it really is. Wait, what's _that _thing?" the musician pointed the red Volkswaguen behind the teens "I'm pretty surprised you all travel now in that, the business hasn't gone well?" Tyki smirked while Jasdero and Debitto let out stupid laughs.

"That's none of your business, assholes" Now, they could see a really murderous Kanda.

"As kind as always, Kanda Yuu. Well, I guess there's nothing we can really do, you see, our car is kind of broken down and we don't really wanna travel in that … that…thing" Tyki said, as if they had ever offered them some help. He seemed not to notice the cold glares and poisoned looks they darted in his and Jasdero and Debitto's direction.

"Give us the girl" Komui intervened, giving a step forward.

"Is not like she has been taken against her will, right honey?" Jasdero smiled, pulling Izzie closer to him and placing his mouth next to her ear in what, she thought, was a really disgusting gesture.

"Get away of me" Izzie hissed, struggling against his grip.

"¡Hey!, ¡Leave her alone!" Angel gave a pair of steps in their direction, her hands into fists, but Lavi's gentle hand stopped her.

"It's okay, there's no need to be aggressive" Tyki interrupted "Leave her, Jasdero, I think she wants to go with her friends, we'll get another chance later. So we are seeing each other, gentlemen, ladies, _señorita*_" Tyki said the last to Izzie, taking one of her hands and pressing his lips against her knuckles.

The girl snorted and stepped away from them when Jasdero released her arm.

"Let's go" Lavi announced. Kanda gave the Noah's Ark members one last cool gaze before leaving.

* * *

"Come on, kiss him~"

"NO" Kanda and Izzie replied.

"You have to be punished for your criminal and horrible actions. So kiss him!" Lavi insisted, pushing Izzie into Kanda's direction. The raven man in question was cornered against the bus's door. He could have jumped out, if the bus hadn't been moving… There was no way out for him.

"And why must I be punished for, rabbit?" asked Kanda in a skeptical and defensive way.

"Oh, you are not being punished, Yuu, this is a favour a friend of yours is doing. Don't tell me she is not lovely!" Lavi answered, stretching both of Izzie's cheeks.

"No, she is not"

"No, I'm not" both of the implied persons answered at the same time.

It has passed almost a day since the restaurant incident. As Lenalee had promised, they returned the car to the local's customer and they continued their journey into the next city. They were just a few minutes from their next destination, and Angel felt excited because they were about to give another concert, and she was not only going to be on first row, but also backstage and into the bus with the most awesome guys in the world.

Izzie, on the other hand, had become more opened with the rest of the group, talking more and laughing with them. Since they all went to look for her when she was kidnapped, she felt closer to the band and even some kind of affective connection, even when they hadn't known each other for more than a week.

"I know you want to kiss him, Izzie~" Angel sang, going back to reality.

"Don't follow his game, Angel" Izzie's voice was distorted by the weird positions Lavi was putting her cheeks on, trying to convince Kanda how lovely and pretty she was.

"Give up, Lavi, Kanda is a declared homosexual guy" Allen exclaimed from his seat, watching the whole scene with a big smile.

"And you are a declared asshole, moyashi, so shut the fuck up" Kanda would have chase him if it wasn't because suddenly she had Izzie's body pressed against his chest down Lavi's manipulation. He could feel her hair tickling him in the base of the neck.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!"

"Lavi-san!" Izzie struggled to move away from Kanda's chest, her face now felt like burning. She couldn't avoid noticing that Kanda's body was really well-built and warm, and that only brought more blood to her cheeks.

"I like the way this is going. Keep that up, Lavi-kun!" Angel laughed and jumped to Lavi's back, surrounding his neck with her arms.

Izzie tried to push herself away, leaning her hands on the door, but Lavi's weight together with Angel's one just folded her arms and threw her over Kanda's body again.

"I'm…not….breathing…." Izzie mumbled against the bassist's clothes.

"I'm going to fucking kill you, stupid rabbit" Kanda released his arms and tried to strangle his friend, but Lavi jumped apart just in time and started running across the bus with Angel still hanging from his back. Kanda ran just after him, a deadly look in his eyes.

"You are gonna pay, guys" Izzie smiled, still a little bit blushed, while taking a pan from the kitchen and following the couple.

"Stop playing, kids, we have arrived. Lenalee, you just said you wanted to do some shopping, right?" Komui announced.

"Yes! Shopping! Ouch!" Angel's voice claimed from the back of the bus.

Lenalee giggled "Izzie and Angel need some clothes and me too. You can go with the sound engineers, staff and the owners of the stadium while we have a nice girl evening"

"Try not to conquer so many men in your way, Lena-lady" Lavi suggested, walking to their direction with a big hematoma on his forehead "Or Komui-san is gonna be arrested for multiple homicidal"

Komui's look adverted Lavi that it was not funny.

"Just joking, haha" the redheaded boy laughed nervously.

"Why don't you take BaKanda? Maybe he gets to kiss at least a boy" Allen smiled in Kanda's direction, ignoring the raven man was closed enough to hear.

"Wha…"

"OOH NOO~ KANDA WILL BE UNABLE TO KISS ANOTHER BOY THAT'S NOT ME!" Lavi cried, hugging Kanda by his neck.

"Get your fucking hands off me, you sexually dissatisfied man! Go find a fucking gay like the moyashi" Kanda pushed him away, on the edge of hitting the teen one more time.

"You are so mean, Yuu" Lavi cried out.

"Grow up, rabbit"

"_I don't wanna be told to grow up, and I don't wanna change, I just wanna have fun. I don't wanna be told to grow up, and I don't wanna change so you better give up"_ Lavi sang a piece of one of the pieces they planned to play on the rock show.

Kanda turned his hand into a fist and covered Lavi's mouth with the other.

"Shut the fuck up"

"Hey hey, we have a concert tomorrow and a sound test tonight, so I'd appreciate if you manage to keep alive and, after this, you can kill each other whenever you want" Komui parked the bus beside a boutique in downtown.

"Have a nice evening, ladies. See you in the night"

* * *

Good? Bad? Horrible? Nasty? Do I suck? ._.


	9. Chapter 9 Innocence

**Finally, I got this chapter! Hope you like it**

**Unfortunately, next chapter may take a lot more time, since I am about to take Cambridge Mock exam and I need to study for it (sighs) **

**Thank you for reading me, you are awesome! Wait next chapter, cuz' secrets will be revelead and also Izzie will know why, why they are chasing her. And other funny stuff...:D**

**Disclaimer: DGM is not mine**

* * *

They went from shop to shop, from boutique to boutique. The city downtown was pretty big, with lots of shops for different kind of people, rich ones or not so rich ones. You could enter a Chanel or Versage building, go out and find yourself in a second-handed clothes bazaar.

It was perfect.

Lenalee guided them all along, first into an Aeropostale shop where they were nearly sweep by a bunch of crazy fans and then into a desert boutique with different type of clothes, all of them not cheaper from $300. Izzie had no problem choosing, after all, she came from money family. Angel was another story. Her tutor earned juicy checks but never let her buy expensive stuff, on the other hand, she had to work in order to get the right of having some extra money in her pockets. That was why Angel's eyes shined while she selected blouses.

"Oh God, this is so beautiful!" she threw across her arm another pair of blouses and shirts and ran to the fitting room.

Izzie just wandered around, checking out a pair of pants and tops.

"You are not paying for all of this, right, Lenalee?" she asked, looking at the prices written down in the ticket

"Why not? We have enough money" the singer shuddered and took a short red skirt.

"Because even I know this is expensive. Look at these, Abercrombie and Fitch, Calvin Klein, Tommy Halfigher, Ralph Lauren…maybe we should go back, at least, to Aeropostale" Izzie answered. She wasn't really keen on people doing favors to her, paying for her things or even giving her gifts. She was carrying money and even a credit card in her purse, but she didn't want to use it all.

"Stop worrying, Izzie-chan, we are doing this as a favour. You don't plan to keep on using the same skirt and shirt for the rest of the trip, right?" Lenalee looked at her skeptically. She really couldn't comprehend at all this girl.

"No but…"

"Hey, look at this! Doesn't it look amazing on me?" Angel came out from the fitting room door and modeled them the outfit she had chosen. It consisted on a pink spaghetti strap blouse with a black rose drawn in the front, black shorts and ankle boots.

"I think it is perfect! Put it on the counter with the rest of the things" Lenalee was as excited as Angel about buying stuff. Angel ran back to the fitting room.

"LAVI-SAN IS GOING TO LOVE IT! I'm wearing it tomorrow in the concert!" Angel's voice resounded in the walls.

"Lavi is a lover of everything that follows his games" Lenalee smiled.

"That's why I usually follow him" Angel winked at her when she returned, a mountain of clothes trapped in her arms. She gave all of them to the kind employee, who put it together with the growing bunch of mercancy they were taking.

Finally they went to pay.

"Special price for Lenalee and her friends if she accedes to give me her signature" smiled the employee.

Lenalee laughed, signed a paper and paid for her clothes and some of Angel's pieces, it seemed like the girl was buying the whole shop.

Izzie's turn was the last one. She decided not to spend her cash, instead, handed out her credit card, but before the casher could be able to take it, Angel's hand grabbed Izzie's wrist.

"No. Not with that" she said in a grave voice.

"Why not?" Confusion reflected in Izzie's eyes.

"Your father said no" was the mysterious and simple answer her friend gave her, but it was enough for Izzie to understand. They could track her.

She sighed. "Okay" and handed the cash. Instead of the three pants and two skirts, she decided just to stay with two pants –they were a lot more comfortable- and from the six blouses, just four, and a pair of tennis.

The girls exited the place carrying big and heavy bags, but they didn't care. They visited some other shops and finally ended up in front of a beauty salon.

"I've got an idea!" Angel exclaimed and crossed the glass doors.

"What are you doing?" asked Lenalee, looking around at the local. It was small, with posters of models with eccentric haircuts hanging from the walls. A big mirror covered one of the walls together with a large dressing table, while four chairs balanced in front of it and the hairstylists ran from one place to another. A strong smell of spray and shampoo overwhelmed their noses.

Angel had already placed herself in one of the tall dark chairs, talking to one of the women that worked in there.

"Black. Violet black" she pronounced, excitement invading her voice.

"Are you crazy?" Izzie's eyes widened, almost reading Angel's mind.

"You two have black hair, that's why it is so easy for you. Leverier-sama is not here so finally I'm going to have my dream come true" Angel smiled. It was true that she always envied Izzie's dark hair, hating her 'boring brown appearance', and Leverier never let her change it at all.

"Dying her hair?" asked a concerned Lenalee, watching the scene with curious eyes.

"She is totally out of her mind" Izzie shook her head with a smile.

Angel winked at her and waited for the hairstylist to attend her. Lenalee and Izzie just sit down in the black couch of the waiting room.

"So, what do you think of us? How have you been feeling?" Lenalee said while reading a magazine.

Izzie thought a while the answer.

"I guess…fine. Thank you for saving me the other day. I'm really grateful with all of you for helping Angel and me, even when none of us know what's going on. These last days have been…bizarre, if I can call them like that."

"Well, that was the least we could do for some fans" Lenalee's smile was sincere, and Izzie wondered how this girl get to be so sweet and kind even with strangers. She didn't have the courage to say that, until the concert, she had no idea that a band with the name of Innocence existed.

"…guess so, but it is still a really big favor. You may be getting into some trouble"

"Troubles usually follow us, if it wasn't you, then it might have been another thing" Lenalee shrugged.

"You shouldn't be doing this. My father, well he…maybe this is something big…"

"You father is the Mayor of Atlanta. Angel's tutor is the principal Judge, she told us everything. We are as aware of the situation as much as you both are, and we accept it"

Izzie felt a knot in her throat, how much were this people doing for her? Even when they were stangers at all, they have showed more kindness in a week than some 'friends' in years. "Thank you" was all she could say. She thought of her father, worrying one more time for him and wondering if he was all right, what he might be doing, where he could be…

"And after all of this, have you finally become a fan of us?" the singer asked out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?"

"Angel told us you didn't even know us before attending the concert with her. That's pretty funny, because everyone in this world have heard of us at least once" Lenalee's voice was still kind and she giggled.

"I heard of you before, I confess, but I'm more interested on…classic music, piano and that stuff. Some Latino, also" Izzie finally confessed with a shame look in her eyes.

"So you hear Latino music, Shakira and that stuff instead of us?" Lenalee teased, widening her eyes in a 'I don't believe you' expression, but keeping her sweet smile.

"My mother was Colombian" she shrugged.

"Was?" now Lenalee was serious. She stared at Izzie like asking her for an explanation. The girl shrugged again and averted her eyes away from her friend.

"Better tell me about you. The band, how it was formed, so I don't get to be so ignorant" Izzie suggested, getting off the point.

"Yes please!" Angel exclaimed from her seat, glaring them through the mirror.

Lenalee doubted but nodded.

"Well, I don't know the whole story since I entered the band after it was already made. I just know Lavi and Allen used to attend the same school in England and they were always bullied by…Tyki Mikk, Jasdero, Debitto and a guy named Skinn Boric, in conclusion, almost all the Noah's Ark members except the girl that travel with them and writes their songs, Road Camelot.

-Well, at the beginning it was only the normal school bulling and nobody did anything at all. Then, a kendo champion student arrived in a scholar exchange program: Kanda. You know him, not a social person, guess that was why Allen and Lavi included him in their group, they weren't the popular guys at all, always bullied…Lavi was the typical nerd and Allen was always bothered because of his hair.

-Eventually, Kanda faced the bullies. They left them in peace for a while, but weren't easy to intimidate. When Kanda, Lavi and Allen decided to form a band, well, Lavi and Allen decided it and forced Kanda to join them; they discovered they were really good. They played always in Kanda's flat, which was in front of my house. I heard them and decided to investigate; I had never talked to Kanda before.

-I talked first to Allen when they were leaving after practicing. I intentionally ran into him and we started frequenting each other, he was, is, a really nice guy. He introduced me to Lavi and Kanda, and when they heard me singing and playing the guitar and read some of the lyrics I wrote, accepted me in the band.

-We started playing in bars, pubs and even in the local fair. We started being known in the surroundings. Too bad we had competition. Noah's Ark couldn't accept our success and tried to sabotage us. We 'mysteriously' lost two guitars, half of the battery and the synth. Kanda's bass was the only one that remained, since he always took care of it.

-That didn't stop us. We bought more instruments and Innocence's and Noah's Ark rivalry grew. When we got our first contract from Black Order music corporation, they just couldn't stand it and surprised Allen and Lavi while they were walking at night to their homes after rehearsing. I don't need to describe what happened, not that I know it all, but Lavi lost his eye and Allen got the scar that he has in his face, his hands got…the way they are now, that's why he usually wears gloves.

-After that and after they recovered, we left school and received home education, courtesy of my brother. We recorded our first CD and got our first tour. Innocence had succeeded.

-And here we are. Noah's Ark was hired by the Millenium Earl's corporation a few months later, but they hadn't had the chance to touch us again. Until last night…"

Lenalee closed her lips, thinking about all that they had been through. Could it be possible? After all that suffering and tries, remembering the days of anguish when their equipment was lost and when Lavi and Allen were attacked… now, they were travelling around the world offering concerts, from being no one, now they finally were someone, known and admired. They had reached their dreams.

"I had no idea of that" Angel said, her hair covered with some kind of plastic, she sat beside Lenalee.

"That's nothing the press usually publish, especially because Noah's Ark doesn't need more bad publicity."

"But the world needs to know the truth! All the things they did…"

"Don't disturb the waters, Angel. We are fine like this; you don't know what they are capable of, so better leave the things take their course. We are far more successful than them, that's enough punishment for their ego" Lenalee said in a sweet voice, like a mother nagging her little baby, with her usual gentle smile. Angel pursed her lips but said nothing. Lenalee was right, even when it was so unfair, the last thing they needed were problems.

"Road Camelot; from Camelot family?" Angel asked after a short silent.

"Yes, guess so" Lenalee answered, without paying that much attention.

Angel glared Izzie, who gave her back the concerned look.

"Well, then we have the reason why Tyki, Jasdero and Debitto tried to take you." Angel said to Izzie.

"What? I think we said that they were just trying to bother" Lenalee now darted looks between the two girls at her sides.

"No. It can't be, Angel. There are lots of Camelots around the world, beside, they are from England. Coincidence, that's all" Izzie said, shaking her head at whatever crazy thought that was crossing Angel's brain.

"Maybe, but we should keep that in mind" Angel adverted.

"What's going on?" Lenalee asked, waiting for a clear answer to that strange conversation.

"Nothing. Just Angel's hallucinations" Izzie smiled and Angel snorted with a smile.

"So mean, Izzie, so mean, just like Kanda"

* * *

"We are late!" Lenalee hurried them as they ran through the streets, the daylight disappearing with the proximity of the night.

She ran to a staircase that descended under the pavement, the word Subway painted on a panel over of the subterranean entrance.

Izzie stopped abruptly.

"Amm…why don't we just take a bus?" she asked nervously.

"They are too slow; the subway is a lot faster. Hurry!" Lenalee took Izzie's wrist and tried to pull her along, but she resisted, planting her feet on the ground.

"No…I mean…the bus is cheaper, no?" she tried to release her hand.

"Of course not, at least not here. Let's go!"

"Okay, then I'll see you…there…." Izzie released herself and walked the opposite direction, waving her hand.

"What's wrong about taking the subway?" asked a confused Lenalee.

"Huh, uh… I see." Angel's voice was serious "Maybe it'd be better the bus after all" the girl smiled confidently.

"But…"

"Izzie is afraid of subways" was the short explanation Angel gave when Izzie was too far for hearing, the girl almost running away from the station.

"What? Really?" Lenalee's voice was surprised "Why?"

"Her mother died in a subway accident. She never talks about it, it's evident it still hurts her" Angel said, sadness in her voice for her friend. Her hair now shining black down the twilight.

"Oh, I see" was all Lenalee was able to say. "What age did she have?"

"Six years old, I think. It was a horrible accident, her mother died just in front of her eyes" Angel watched sadly her friend's back.

"That must be really hard"

"You have no idea" Izzie said, almost turning her head to see them. "Stop talking of me like I'm not here"


	10. Chapter 10 What if, Part 1

_Innocence Rock Time_

_

* * *

_

The last verse of _Snakes on an airplane_ received the girls when they finally reached the stage.

Lenalee walked into scene, joining the rest of Innocence team who were already rehearsing the songs they had planned to play and checking all the sound system.

"Hey! There you are, Lena-lady! We were about to start worrying for ya'" Smiled Lavi and passed an arm around her shoulder when the girl got close enough.

"You are late" Kanda snorted from his position

"I'm sorry, Lavi-kun, Kanda-san, we lost the track of time" she replied, releasing from Lavi's hug and placing herself in front of the microphone after adjusting her guitar.

"That's what I thought. We got company; greet them, Lenalee-chan!" Lavi waved his hand to one side of the stage, where a group of crazy fans screamed in response.

"You are so hot, Lenalee!" a male voice shouted from the crowd.

Komui's eyes set into fire from the other side of the auditorium.

The girl just smiled.

The auditorium was quite different from the last one they visited. This place didn't have seats in the front, but a big empty space where the teens could jump, run and even kill each others. On the sides there were grades situated with comfort seats where the rest of the people could enjoy the show in a more civilized way.

On one corner stood the small crowd who had obtained special entrances to the sound test. Lenalee enjoyed these moments because they could get to know a lot better their fans, even when they were just a few of them.

Allen pushed some keys in a strange melody to get Lenalee's attention.

"Lenalee-chan, Lenalee-chan!"

"What's wrong, Allen?" she turned to see him.

"Lenalee-chan, did you buy me some cakes, sweets, cookies or something?" Allen asked, his eyes turned into two bright stars of anticipation.

"Che. Why you don't stop eating so you can finally disappear, moyashi?" asked murderously Kanda.

"Not until your ass stops being that big" the boy retorted.

"Stop messing up with my ass, you wish yours was this sexy"

"Sure, BaKanda, so I could have all that pretty boys behind me" Allen rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"Well, I don't wanna interrupt this really cultural and formative conversation but we better continue" Lenalee said "And yes, Allen, I bought you some desserts and, Kanda, I brought also soba, so better shut up and work"

They didn't need more.

Izzie and Angel couldn't stop laughing from the corner they were in –with Komui-, as well as the rest of the audience. It was a well way to relax the girls after being that short from riding a subway and the suicidal race they had to do in order to arrive as early as posible.

"1,2,3,4" Lavi counted and a known melody started.

_Delicate endless flow  
Running down my electric wire  
Sunshine and midnight glow  
Lightning discharge and eternal fire_

Lenalee sang, and before they could finish the song, they abruptly changed to a different tune and different lyrics. Lenalee's voice went now and then one octave up and another down, shifting and mixing all their different music styles and lyrics in an unrecognizable melody.

Even with the variety of tones and the continue changing, it sounded great, like the best of everything fused in a mass of music.

Lenalee's voice sounded kind of distorted when she sang the last tone in a high-pitched voice since the volume was really high. She made a grim, turned around and made a signal with her thumb pointing to the floor to one of the sound engineers. The man nodded and pressed some buttons in a big machine that was hidden behind a false wall. Lenalee sang the last verse again and this time the walls didn't tremble with the power of her voice.

The small crowd clapped and roared when she stepped away from the microphone.

Then Lavi stood up and took his place in the front, pushing the microphone against his lips. He winked to one of the girls in the crowd, it was not really noticeable, since he just had one eye, but she nearly fainted from the emotion.

Angel growled behind her teeth. Izzie turned around to see her and noticed her friend was frowning in Lavi's direction.

"Angel…" she started, but her friend interrupted.

"I know. Is not like…He is like that" she sighed and crossed her arms. Why was she feeling …jealous? She was a fangirl, okay, she accepted it, and she knew from the beginning how much Lavi was used to flirting, so watching him doing that kind of things shouldn't annoy her like that. _Don't be stupid, Angel. _She thought for herself. The girl noticed Izzie was about to say something, but she decided she better keep her mouth closed.

Lavi followed the procedure Lenalee did minutes before, changing one song for another, mixing high notes with grave voice. He didn't seem to have any problem at all; only that Allen stopped for a while and checked something in his double-keyboard connection.

"Well, everything in order! Now, we just have to verify how the low notes sound, Yuu-chan, will you give us the honor?" the boy smiled in Kanda's direction.

"Stop calling me by that stupid name or I am going to cut your fucking tongue" He replied in a vehement way.

"But you won't be able to kiss again!" Allen said with a horrified expression.

"I told you to cut off that stupid nonexistent story about the rabbit and me" the bassist growled. He seemed to be at the border of his nerves. It was just that he didn't like having all that stupid fans so close to him since he wasn't good socializing neither liked it. Having persons watching their sound test signified they had to talk to them after the show and losing ink, time and words.

"Not again, please" Lenalee rolled her eyes. "Stop being that childish. Kanda, please"

Kanda snorted and reached a microphone. What he hated the most about those stupid sound tests was that he needed to sing in order to make sure the low notes would hear decently well. He was never singing during the concerts, but it was important that they knew the different ways the place would react to sound. It was not the same to sing in a stadium, where the music would get lost due to wind, than singing in closed spaces where they could leave deaf the whole audience if they sang a pitch over the normal rate.

So Kanda needed to sing in order to make sure that low sounds wouldn't go out of tune when they were intensified by a microphone, since his voice was a lot deeper than Lavi's or Allen's.

"Che"

"You are about to see something that will never ever be repeated in your whole life. The least probable thing in the world: Kanda…" Lavi announced.

"Shutthe fuck up and start" and before anyone else could say anything, he started playing his bass, so Lavi, Allen and Lenalee struggled to keep his pace.

_What if it makes you sad at me?  
And what if it makes you laugh now but you cry as you fall asleep?  
And what if it takes your breath  
And you can't hardly breathe?  
And what if it makes the last sound be the very best sound?_

Kanda wasn't looking at anyone in special, actually, he preferred staring at the back of the auditorium, where no one was standing and no one could distract him at all.

But, even when he wasn't looking at Izzie, she felt like she, actually, could hardly breathe. Wait, wait? Hardly breathing? Why? It had no sense at all, since she had classified Kanda as the most rude and vulgar person she had ever met in her whole life.

_What if what I want makes you sad at me?  
And is it all my fault or can I fix it please?  
Cause you know that I'm always all for you  
Cause you know that I'm always all for you_

But that song…Izzie heard the lyrics fascinated, hardly believing they were coming out from someone like Kanda.

She wondered who had written it. Could it be possible that it had come out from Kanda?

No, no way.

_What if it makes you lose faith in me?  
What if makes you question every moment you cannot see?  
And what if it makes you crash  
And you can't find the key?  
What if it makes you ask how you could let it all go? _

Kanda suddenly looked in their direction, his eyes met Izzie's ones for a fraction of second before placing them again in the back of the auditorium. Her heart stopped in that small moment, the intensity of his pupils running through her veins.

_What if what I want makes you sad at me?  
And is it all my fault or can I fix it please?  
Cause you know that I'm always all for you  
Cause you know that I'm always all for you_

"Enough, it sounds good" he declared, leaving the microphone so surprisingly that his companions kept playing some seconds after.

"You can breathe now, Izzie" Angel whispered to her, giggling.

Izzie realized she was still containing the air. She slowly exhaled and shook her head to give order again to her thoughts.

"And you said you didn't like him.."

"I don't like him"

"Then what was that for?" Angel smiled, knowing she had the entire reason.

"I have more important things to think about than dating a guy who avoids any kind of social interaction" was Izzie's only answer.

Angel was about to reply, but their attention was attracted by the commotion in the stage. The fans finally managed to meet their idols and the only thing that was visible from them was Lavi's red head, which was suddenly drowned in a wave of arms and legs.

* * *

A/N : Okay, I know I said secrets would be revealed in this chapter, but the truth is that it turned out to be longer than planned (as always-.-) so the second part will be updated later as soon as I have edited it.

Special thanks to Hazeliebear who recommended the song Kanda performed. It's name is What if-SafetySuit, hope you liked the way it appeared! and the fragment that Lenalee sang is: Sparks-Tatu

So, what do you think about this chapter? It is not quite essential except the part where Izzie realize something weird is going on about her feelings. The next chapter will have some more relevant things, and from now on you better expect long chapters since the plot is getting kind of complicated. Hope you don't get bored about it.

Sayo :)


	11. Chapter 11 What if part 2

_Innocence Rock Time ~_

* * *

"I can't believe they stole my boxers" Allen said horrified, awkwardly walking as he tried not to join his legs "And without taking off my pants"

Lavi laughed at the boy's face, one hand covering his missing eye since the patch had disappeared.

The audience that had accompanied them during the test had turned to be a group of extremely crazy fangirls who actually ran over the musicians, taking everything they could and almost abusing from poor Allen.

Kanda was saved because, as soon as he had finished singing, he hurried to get away from the stage. The few men fans were barely able to get close enough to just talk with Lenalee, since Komui's assassin expression scared everyone around.

So Lavi and Allen had to deal with the horde of craziness.

Now, they were walking across the hall of the hotel they were staying in. It wasn't a big one, since they didn't want to attract any kind of attention sleeping at some place like Hilton, but it was nice and clean, with a small bar, restaurant and a backyard with pool.

They asked the receptionist for their keys. Komui had already reserved their rooms under his name, so it was just a matter of checking the database and they were already up in the second floor.

Lenalee, Angel and Izzie were staying in a double room, the boys' door next to them.

Angel was taking a shower when someone knocked the door of the room.

"Come in" answered Lenalee, who was zapping on the television with a bored expression.

"Am I bothering?" Komui asked gently, stucking his head in.

"No, is there something wrong?" Lenalee sat on her bed and muted the Phineas and Ferb show.

"I'm taking Izzie for a while, is it okay? She has a phone call"

"Me? Phone call?" Izzie turned around to face the manager, leaving the clothes she was folding on the bed.

"Your dad, don't give any important information" As soon as Komui had pronounced those words, Izzie left her room and followed him.

Lavi and Allen were playing cards on the small tables and the sound of water running indicated that Kanda was bathing. Izzie passed the two friends and ran to the hotel's phone at one corner.

"Hey, Izzie-chan! Are you here to kidnap Kanda?" Lavi winked. He had supplied his patch with a head band that made his hair look less messed.

The girl didn't pay attention.

"'ello?" she spoke on the big and old phone.

"Thanks God, you are okay" a male's voice spoke. Izzie felt her chest fill with relief when she heard her father's voice.

"How are you? Where are you? Is everything okay?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer all of that" her father laughed "but we are okay, you don't have to worry"

"We? What's going on?"

"Mr. Leverier and me. I can't tell you more, we are safe"

"Come on, when will I be able to return? Tell me something more, dad!" she was getting hysterical, despaired. Her father called after a week just to say he was okay; and what about everything else, the kidnappers, the escape? Seriously, did the man lost his head?

"Izzie, I can't. But I promise everything is going to be fine" he tried to sound confident, but even his daughter could notice the hesitation in his voice.

"Don't lie to me. Men with balaclava were hunting me, they injected me with something, I had to escape with a band I don't even know, don't tell me you have everything under control as you always do because you don't have it." She tried to sound normal, don't let her father notice her nervousness and fear, keeping her calm expression in an attempt to hide all the feelings that were rising inside her. Angry, confusion, fear…

The man sighed from the other side of the line.

"See, Izzie, it is not easy here…there are some general agitation in the city and.."

"Does it have anything to do with all of this?" She was in serious mode. No playing, she was direct and wanted clear answers.

"There are things that should be kept in secret in order not to…"

"I am not a kid anymore, dad. I am sorry, and I know you are doing all of this for my own sake, but I need to know what's going on in order to decide how I should act. I am your daughter"

"Exactly, that's why you should keep away from this. Don't get involved, Izzie"

"You said that you trusted me, you promised we were going to be completely honest with each other the day mom….well, you know what happened." Her heart was aching and she felt bad for using that tone with her father, but she couldn't be kept in ignorance when her life was in the game.

The line stayed in silence for a while. When he answered, his voice was trembling.

"Sheryl…he tries to stay with the power of the city. He claims that the elections were manipulated, and, well…maybe he has got information that can background his theory" guilt was denoted in his voice.

"Sheryl Camelot, the other candidate? He had a lot of people who supported him."

"Exactly. But we couldn't let him win, Izzie, he is a lunatic! God knows in what things that man is in, confidential information fell in our hands and we took the decision of tell everyone we won" he spoke fast, so fast Izzie couldn't understand some words, but the entire concept hit her like cold water.

"Wait. You mean that you…cheated? You cheated on the elections?"

"Don't say it like that. It didn't happen exactly that…"

"You, the man who taught me about honesty _cheated _on the elections? What….you knew all of this could happen!" her voice was accusatory, without accepting the complete truth about the words of her father.

"Well, we expected him to complain but not something like this. Izzie, please, stay with the band. We have reasons to think Sheryl is trying to get you, and maybe Angel, to blackmail us, and we are afraid of what he is capable of. He has antecedents of murdering."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't have to know about the politics and…"

"That my father is a liar" her voice was as cold as an iceberg.

"Don't take it like that, Izzie, we did what we had to do. It would have been awful if that man had won. If you know all the things we found about him"

"And I am fleeing and traveling against my will with a band because my father cheated and he wasn't able to tell me anything!"

"Izzie…I, .." he sighed "I am sorry. I said too much"

"It's not what you said is …everything"

"I have to go. I love you, honey. I'll inform when you can come back, I have already talked about Angel's and yours security with Komui, and you will be okay as long as you stay away from those men and anything that has to do with Sheryl. That man is dangerous, Izzie, and I don't want to lose you"

She sighed, "I know, but you…forget it"

" Leverier sends his regards to Angel. Good night"

"'night" Izzie hanged the phone and stayed in the same position for a while, staring at the wooden table, without noticing the looks everyone around was giving her.

Then she turned around and exited like an exhalation.

* * *

The night was warm and the air conditioning buzz was like background music. Izzie rolled once more on her bed, without being able to sleep.

She accidentally kicked Angel on one leg and stayed ecstatic, waiting for the girl to wake up, but her friend just mumbled something in dreams and rolled to the other side.

The things her father said were still spinning in her head. She barely talked about the incident but to send Leverier's regards to Angel. The rest of the revelations her father had made were silenced behind sealed lips.

Her father. A liar. He cheated, in elections, that was a really big deal, he could get into jail if the federal government got knowledge of it. And the worst of it was that he didn't have the courage to tell her anything.

After her mother's incident, they both had been completely honest and transparent with each other. Her father was her best friend, the one she thought she could share everything with and will be responded in the same way, but now she realized it wasn't really like that.

She didn't know what hurt the most: her father lying and hiding things from her or her father, the great James Fletcher, cheating on the elections.

Her eyes met the white curtains that were hanging from the wall, the moonlight dying the clothing with a white light. She desired being outside, feeling the night breeze, and realized the room was kind of suffocating. Izzie slowly stood up, put her tennis on and opened silently the door.

The corridor was dark and quiet, except for the typical snores coming from one of the doors, muffled by the sound of the air-conditioners.

She walked downstairs and crossed the lobby, where the nightman greeted her.

"Do you need something, lady?" he asked gently.

"I just need to get some fresh air" she smiled, thinking suddenly on the pijamas she was wearing: just a short and a spaghetti strap blouse and wondering if it wasn't too inappropriate for wandering around a hotel full of strangers.

But the man didn't seem to notice it. "The garden's door is open; you can go there if you want"

"Thanks" she whispered and reached for the crystal doors.

The crickets' music was the only sound, besides some current bus that passed close to the garden.

Izzie sat down in the edge of the pool, took her shoes away and introduced her feet in the water, illuminated by two special lamps water-proof installed on both sides of the pool.

She breathed deep, trying to control the thoughts that were running through her head, enjoying the silence and loneliness.

Suddenly, she heard some steps. Izzie tensed up and slowly took her feet out from the water and searched for a dark corner where she could hide, her heart pumping hardly in her chest.

Have they come for her?

Then, she realized she had left her tennis near the pool.

Shit.

One of the doors slid to one side, a man's figure silhouetted by the few lights that were hanging from some posts along the small garden.

A strip of hair floated behind the man's head and Izzie realized with great relief it was only Kanda.

What was he doing there? Did he go to look for her? No, ridiculous, nobody saw her getting outside and if that had been the case, Kanda Yuu wouldn't be interested in anything she could probably be doing.

However, she was safe for the moment. She considered getting out, but the man should have had seen her shoes there, although he didn't show any kind of interest in that. He just walked to one of the benches that were down a lamp on a garden corner, a few meters away from the bushes where Izzie was hiding.

No, they weren't meters. They were _centimeters._

She realized it when she smell his cologne, a scent that reminded her of a Spain's beach.

Spain. Madrid. Subway. She shuddered, remembering that awful day.

She shook her head and slowly returned to the pool, feeling a bit uncomfortable about having Kanda so close. The memory of Lavi's attempt to get them both kissing was still fresh in her mind.

Izzie considered getting back to her room or any other place, since she didn't want to talk to anyone neither have to answer questions, and now it was impossible Kanda being ignorant of her presence in the yard.

But the truth was that she didn't want to get back. She took her shoes and hesitated a moment, looking in the guy's direction.

He wasn't even looking at her, his eyes focused on a notebook where he scribbled something.

Izzie decided she better stay, since he was busy with some kind of letter or any stuff.

However, even when she pretended to relax herself by getting her feet wet, the tense was obvious in her shoulders, sure that in any moment the man was going to ask about the phone's incident. He surely had heard everything as well as Lavi, Allen and Komui, and the bassist may wanted some answers about the kind of trouble they were in.

But, surprisingly, he just kept ignoring her presence. Izzie felt relieved and comfortable again as the seconds passed, glad in some weird way that she wasn't completely alone and relieved because he wasn't forcing conversation when she didn't feel talkative.

A summer breeze made her hair stand on end and as all the tension drained out from her body, she felt tired again.

She stood up and took her tennis in one hand. While she walked to the crystal doors, she felt some kind of urge to thank Kanda for making her some company in those moments. It wasn't like he was doing that on purpose, maybe he didn't even care about her, but certainly he helped.

Before she could analyze the situation, her mouth had already worked the thing out.

"Thank you" she said.

Kanda's head lifted up from his work and looked at the girl as if it was the first time he had seen her there.

"For what?" he snorted.

Okay, maybe he hadn't noticed her at all. But she had already spoke and needed to give an answer. She blamed herself for being so impulsive and stupid.

"For not asking questions" was all the girl said before walking back to the lobby, leaving a perplex Kanda back in the bench.

* * *

A/N : finally, second part! I don't know if I did a well job editing it, it is late night and I really want to get some sleep, so I'll review this later. And, talking about a review...leave me some! So I get to know if I suck at this or I'm not that bad :)

Oyasuminasai!


	12. Chapter 12 Drunk

_Innocence Rock Time_

The engine of the so known bus that had recently become their home made both girls aware that they were about to leave.

Angel and Izzie finished packing their new clothes in a compact luggage and accommodated it on the top of the places where they slept.

It was round midnight, the concert had finished some hours ago and Lavi's adrenaline was still running through his veins, so he was just jumping from one side to another outside the bus while telling stupid jokes.

Even when it had been an intense concert of two hours long, none of them seemed to be tired but, on the other hand, were full of energy.

But there were some details that midst the party ambient.

Angel was still disappointed in some childish way because neither Izzie nor her were allowed to enter the concert. Instead, they had to stay in the dressing rooms hearing from the other side of the stage. Komui had explained them that, since it was probable that the kidnappers and Sheryl Camelot were aware that they were travelling with Innocence, they'd instantly assume their presence in the concert, so it was necessary to get them confused by taking the girls out of the scene.

Also, Angel was still kind of mistrustful for Lavi's constantly flirting with the girls. But, seriously, didn't she know that he had always been like that and travelling together wasn't making any difference at all? She wasn't changing who Lavi was, even when the kiss he had given him was still burning in her lips.

"Angel, are you okay?" Izzie asked concerned, looking at how her friend was abnormally quiet. She finished putting everything in order and walked near her.

"Yes, of course" the other answered, trying to get all of those ideas out of her head.

"You seem kind of…absent. Are you still mad because we didn't enter the concert?"

"No, nothing like that, it was necessary. I'm fine, just a bit worried, but fine. Seriously" Angel shook her head and smiled, making a "V" with her fingers, expecting Izzie would believe her, even when she knew the girl was really perceptive. However, Izzie had her own problems and she knew how annoying it was having someone insisting on obtaining answers when you weren't keen on giving them.

"I am here if you wanna talk, okay?" Izzie offered, smiling.

"Thanks, I…"

"Hey heey, let's celebrate!" Lavi's voice interrupted them. He had just crossed the entrance door carrying a _six _of beers and a vodka bottle in his hands. "With our traditional _Resist or go to sleep_ competition!"

Behind him, the rest of Innocence band, who had been busy storing all the instruments in one special compartment at one side of the bus, entered in the small space.

"Resist or go to sleep?" Izzie and Angel asked at unison.

"Oh, all of a tradition here, you never know what's gonna happen once you are in it" Allen winked at the girls and sat down in his usual seat at the front part of the bus.

"What is it about?" Angel wanted to know, deliberately ignoring Lavi when he surrounded her shoulders with one of his arms.

"Just drink until you fall unconscious or just say 'enough'. The one who stands the major number of alcohol in its system is the winner" Lenalee explained as she reached for her usual place in front of Allen.

"Is that really a game?" Izzie incurred, looking suspiciously around. Seriously, see who got drunker? A game?

"Competition, please, my dear lady, don't underestimate my invention" Lavi requested as he reached the small counter and prepared the drinks, mixing some tomato juice with the vodka.

"Yeah, just someone like Lavi could have invented it" Komui commented from the driver's seat. "Drink but don't dare vomit inside! We are leaving…now!"

The bus finally started moving and the glasses with the mixture Lavi was making almost fell, but he managed to keep them in their place.

"Here you go, Yuu" Lavi gave Kanda one of the glasses with the red mixture moving inside. The bassist took it without saying anything and waited leaned to the door until everyone was ready.

"Angel, Izzie, you are about to experience one of the most strange and crazy shows in the entire…"

"Just give them the fucking thing" Kanda spat.

"Woaah, Yuu, don't interrupt the mystery of the moment!" Lavi sobbed.

"Che"

"Well, here you go" the redheaded offered them the glasses. Angel accepted it reluctantly, shaking the red liquid with a suspicious expression. Izzie, on the other side, shook her head.

"I don't drink" she excused herself.

"Oh, don't come with that! Here, _everyone _drink." Lavi insisted, putting the glass in her hand.

"Guess I am the exception"

"No exceptions, Izzie-chan, or you are in or you are in" Allen smiled in her direction.

"But…I don't…"

"Just accept it! For once in your life, do something reckless and crazy!" Angel encouraged her, hitting her shoulder.

"As if anything of this was neither reckless nor crazy" Izzie mumbled for herself. She really didn't like the idea of drinking, but the eyes around her were exerting a huge pressure on her, so she finally accepted the drink.

"Fine, so….Three, two, one…Go!" at the sign given, everyone took a gulp.

"Go!" and another…

"Go!" another…

"G..g…o!"

Another

* * *

A burp echoed on the front part of the bus. The pair that was on the seats exploded in laughter.

Lenalee took air, blew her cheeks and let out another burp, so inappropriate in her that everyone cackled, especially Allen, with which she was immersed in a fierce burps competitions.

"And…and…ano..t..GO!" Everyone gave one last gulp at the, they thought, sixth glass they had taken. Izzie's and Angel's cheeks were pink and they could barely stand up, so they both opted for staying in the couch.

Lavi was staggering beside Angel, his eye lost in the distance.

"Have…have..I told you that..you look amazing with that…hai..hair? Did you…dy..or…or….ooh, damn it, you look…good and…I…am…drunk…Oh, Come here, baby!"

Suddenly, unexpectedly, Lavi took Angel by the hair and kissed her on the lips with such intensity that Izzie stood up and left the couch for them.

Slowly, Lavi sat beside Angel and kept on kissing her, the girl's hands tingling in his hair and pulling him closer, not thinking of the things that before had disturbed her, just going with the flow.

Everyone looked silently at them for one second. Then, Allen started laughing along with Lenalee.

"I always knew it! It is such..such….." Allen started dramatically sobbing as he watched the couple.

"Always knew…he was not….gay…."Lenalee completed his phrase between hiccups.

"Now…Kanda…better prove…everyone…you are…straight…" Allen dared the bassist, who was still leaning against the door trying not to fall "and..kiss that..girl, man!" he pointed Izzie, who started laughing stupidly.

"Fuck…you" Kanda replied.

"So…there… he goes…gay tendencies!" Allen exploded in laughter.

"Oi_, talkig_…about _gissing, _Izzie-chan hadn't paid…for…her…_grime_" Lavi added after separating his lips from Angel's in order to take some air.

"What fucking…crime?" Izzie covered her mouth as soon as she realized she had said that bad word, so used to good manners as she was. Was it an effect of the alcohol or was it just thoughts she never dared saying aloud?

"_Bravo!_ The lady said her first bad wo...hip! HAHAHAHAHAH"

"Come…on…kiss him, kiss him" Lavi started coring and, suddenly, everyone, including Komui, was singing with him.

"Kiss him, kiss him, kiss him"

"Make him straight, girl! Hip!" Allen encouraged her, a fist in the air.

"…OKAAAAAAY!" and, before everyone really expected Izzie to do such a reckless and impulsive thing, her hands were grabbing Kanda's neck and her lips pressed roughly against his.

Cheers almost made the bus tremble. Lavi simulated fireworks sounds with his mouth and Angel clapped like a five year old girl.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta" Allen humming the wedding march got Izzie back to reality. She opened her eyes and found Kanda staring at her, surprise shining in his pupils. As she realized what she was doing and the levels of alcohol stopped clouding her thoughts, the urge of repairing the damage installed in her chest.

She pushed Kanda away and gave some steps back as he kept on looking at her scared and blushed face.

"Oh my God, I…I…" the bus stopped in that moment at a petrol station near the highway, and the lack of movement down her feet, for some strange reason, together with the mass of emotions flowing inside, made her head feel dizzy and her stomach turn. Kanda's face also changed to a weird green color and both of them precipitated to the door and vomited outside.

"Oh, Goddamn it, I'm not staying behind" Allen exclaimed and almost jumped over Lenalee, kissing her on the lips, barely a brush, but enough for Komui to storm to him and grab his collar, pulling him away from his beloved sister.

"Walker…" his eyes were fire and the dark atmosphere that surrounded him was palpable.

The fear made alcohol drain out of Allen's body as he realized that the end of his days was close…

If watching two teens running out the bus in order to vomit over the pavement was something strange for the workers of the petrol station, the next scene was even weirder. Even when the two figures passed too fast to distinguish them really well, they could realize that the death of a strange white-haired boy was near as a man persecuted him with a knife in his hand…

* * *

A/N: Finally! I know this need edition, which I'd make later, but I couldn't wait to update it! It has been a long time due to so much school work and lack of creativity T_T also motivation, so don't doubt leaving a review!

By the way, I've just started a new fanfic, also an AU where our beloved Kanda turns out to be some kind of a hired assassin. It is named "Die, my love", if you want to give a look to it and give me some opinions. Thank you for reading me!


	13. Chapter 13 Scandalous

_Innocence Rock Time_

"Oh my God" Izzie groaned as she incorporated, her hand flying to his forehead that felt like about to explode. Her voice was husky and she felt her tongue heavy. In fact, she felt her whole body heavy.

"You too?" Angel smiled in her direction from the kitchen's counter where she was leaning. The veins in her eyes were clearly visible as well as the mess her now dark hair was, and Izzie noticed she was still wearing the same clothes of the night before. She drank a gulp of the bottled water she'd found on the fridge.

"Never again" her friend moaned, the whole world bumping in her temples.

"That's what everyone says" Angel drank the rest of the water from the bottle and threw it in the bag where they kept all the trash, then sat beside her friend with a grunt. "Do you remember…everything that happened last night?" she asked, her expression suddenly turned into a grimace.

Izzie frowned while making an effort to remember everything. Flashes of laughter, alcohol, mocks, alcohol, Lavi and Angel… she stopped there and stared at her friend.

"Well, you and Lavi…" she trailed off, unsure how to continue.

"Oh, don't remind me that" Angel retorted, her face now turned into a mortified expression that she hurried to cover with the palms of her hands. "I must have looked like a hoe or something worse, especially when it clearly doesn't mean anything for him" she murmured from behind her skin.

Izzie looked around, trying to make sure that no one else was hearing. From her place she only had a partial view of Angel and Allen's litters, where the second one was deeply asleep, his feet hanging out of the mattress while his head was randomly collocated over the pillow, a huge bruise on it. Komui.

The door of Komui's and Lenalee's small room was closed, so she guessed they hadn't woken up, and the cacophony of snores indicated that Lavi and Kanda were completely knocked out. So she and Angel were the only ones awake.

"Hum, well, you were both drunk, people usually do stupid things when…" suddenly, a new flashback invaded her mind, maybe the one she'd rather not remember.

_Kiss him, kiss him, kiss him _the tune echoed at the back of her head as a soundtrack song at the same time the memory of her lips meeting impulsively…

_Holy shit_ she thought horrified and bit her tongue to not let out the curse.

At her side, Angel smiled sheepishly at the expression of her face. "And I think _we _made especially stupid things, right?"

Izzie was wordless, filled with such a horror, such a shame…since when did she use to act like that? That wasn't the way she was raised up, if her father knew…

Her father. His revelations. The cheat. She wished she could be drunk again when those worries and concerns returned to haunt her as they had done every minute since he told her all the truth.

She moaned and hit the back of her head against the wall. Pain ran down her spine from her head, the hangover aggravating the sensation of hitting herself. She repeated the action; since the pain felt kind of fitting with the stupid person she was considering herself to be in that moment.

"Hey, easy there. It can't be that bad" Angel touched Izzie's shoulder in a supportive gesture.

"Of course it is. Instead of taking care of the things that are really important I go and get drunk and kiss a guy who I barely know and…oh my God, what am I gonna do when he wakes up?" She hit her head once more, and her spine shivered.

"Pretend you don't remember anything, just as I am planning to do" her friend responded.

"You know I have never been a good liar" Izzie stood up and staggered to the fridge where she clumsily searched for a bottle of water, juice, whatever, her mouth was really dry now.

She dropped some Tupperware containers and packs of food in her research until her hand touched the tap of a bottle of water. She took it sharply, the noise of things sweeping hammering at the back of her head.

"Fuck, shut the hell up" a deep baritone voice spoke behind her. Izzie's body stiffened in the moment, her hand frozen in the tap of the bottle.

Someone else groaned and she caught from the corner of her eye a piece of red hair moving.

"Is it day?" a voice less deep but equally sexy (oh come on, he is a singer, his voice MUST be sexy, especially if it is like Gabe Saporta's, but I am getting off the point) asked dragging the words.

"It seems so" Izzie answered when it was obvious Angel won't. She finally managed to take off the tap and drank a huge gulp that felt like it had hit her head instead of her stomach. "Oh, God"

She observed Lavi walking to the fridge and taking out two bottles, one of water and another one with a brownish substance in it (coñac). The guy mixed them both and drank the liquid in one rapid shot. He shook his head theatrically and his eye suddenly met Angel's, who decided the window was far more interesting. Lavi collocated correctly his patch; since it was kind of lose, as he had done with a pair of glasses. Then, unexpectedly, his face changed from the tired one to a big smile, a weird glow shining in his green eye.

"Damn, you look good and I'm drunk" he said out loud. Izzie and Angel stared at him confused, and the fangirl shivered when she remembered those exact words coming from the singer's mouth last night before he kissed her.

"What?" Angel eyed him suspiciously.

"Oh yeah, girl!" he exclaimed and hurried to the drawers that were on top of the bus, almost part of the roof, where the luggage was kept. He searched for a notebook and a pen and jumped back down, then ran outside hyperactively.

Angel and Izzie looked at each other, as if someone could explain what the hell that was.

"FUCKING RABBIT, CAN'T YOU LET ME SLEEP, YOU MOTHERFUCKING ASSHOLE?" Kanda stormed out of his bed and looked around with an assassin glow in his eyes.

But Lavi was not there anymore, just those two girls who were travelling with them for some fucking damned and unknown reason. They both stared at him curiously -except the tall one who averted her eyes as soon he caught her gaze- as if they have never seen a mad man before. The anger just made his head ache more and more and more…

"BaKanda, shut up!"

"Oh, for God's sake, what's going on?"

"Can't you stay quiet?"

Different voices grumbled as the rest of the band woke up.

* * *

The place was peaceful, quiet and clean, just the out space Izzie needed to be in after so much stress. Above their heads, the sky was clear with just one or two clouds floating.

They were in an open camp where some wooden tables with benches at its sides were collocated with a lot space between them, so they could enjoy some privacy. However, there were only two families in the surroundings having lunch, too far away to pay attention to the group of teenagers that came out a bus and started preparing some sandwiches.

Some meters away from them, the woods decorated the horizon, big tall trees submerging that big extension of land in cool shadows. Izzie, Angel and Lenalee were planning to explore them after having their lunch-meeting.

After the extremely weird and angry show of the morning, everyone tried to recover from the hangover with different methods, there was the Lavi's one that consisted on drinking water with coñac, and the a lot more normal one that included an Aspirin and a glass of plain water, which everyone took.

Nobody talked during their way to the park which started just after interrupting Lavi's moment of inspiration and dragging him back to the bus. Silence fitted more with their desire to get rid of the aches that bumped in their heads.

When they were a lot more recovered from the hangover, they had finally arrived to the place they were now in. Lenalee, Angel, Izzie and Allen prepared some sandwiches; Komui revised the bus and Lavi was still suffering for waking up Kanda, running for his life all around.

Allen didn't talk as usually, visible uncomfortable. His shoulders were tensed up and his movements clumsy, especially when he got closer to Lenalee, the flush never disappeared from his cheeks, as well as the Chinese.

"Okay, I am sorry" Allen finally spat out, his hands dirty with mayonnaise, lifting them in surrender.

"For what, Allen-kun?" Lenalee sweetly asked him without meeting his gaze.

"You know…last night…we were a little drunk, and I…I…kind of…" the white haired boy seemed to have difficulties finding the appropriated words. From the engine of the bus Komui stared murderer at them.

"It's okay, Allen-kun. We were really drunk" She smiled.

Allen swallowed and nodded. "Well, friends again?"

"We never stopped being friends" the girl responded, but a sad ghost crossed her eyes for a moment, too fast just Angel noticed.

"Great. Thanks" the boy smiled her back, visibly relieved.

Izzie looked the exchange curiously. Should she apologise too with Kanda for kissing him? But it was Kanda, would he accept her apology? But, if he didn't remember anything, then it would be a really stupid and embarassing slip just to go and say sorry, after all, neither he nor Lavi had touched the subject of anything that happened last night, except for the phrase Lavi exclaimed that morning, but that didn't really count.

So...was it that easy? Kanda forgot the kiss? Izzie should have felt relieved, but for some sick reason the thought of him forgetting that rough lip-meeting made her eyes tickle and a made a lump appear in her throat. _Stupid stupid stupid _she nagged herself. Feeling bad because Kanda didn't remember something she'd done down the influence of alcohol, without any feelings involved? But if it hurt...then it meant feelings _were _involved. She slightly shook her head. Silly thoughts.

"GUYS, LUNCH IS READY!" Lenalee called them when they got all sandwiches prepared. Lavi, Kanda and Komui gathered around the table and devoured everything they could reach.

The cookers, fortunately, had taken their food before the starving wolves arrived.

"Angel-chan, do you remember last night?" Lavi looked at the girl from behind the bread he was eating.

At Izzie's side, Angel tensed up and stopped chewing. She shook her head, unable to find her voice.

"Oww, really? How can you forget it? How can you forget the passionate and unique and exciting moment when Lavi Bookman kissed you, huh, huh?" he dramatically asked, pretending to cry.

Blood found its way to Angel's cheeks. She hoped they wouldn't notice, shrugged and swallowed.

"It hurts, Angel-chan! Just in here" the redheaded pointed his chest "You have broken it. Crack! Just like that!" he sobbed loudly and faked a faint.

"What about last night, then, Lavi-kun?" Angel finally found her voice and asked in the coldest way she could. The result was a lot better than she expected and congratulated herself in her mind.

"Oww, girl, you are impossible, why no one cares about my feelings?"

"Because you are a fucking rabbit" Kanda responded him.

"Because you are always so dramatic" Allen complemented.

"Betrayal! Traitors!" the redheaded cried out and pointed at them with an accusatory finger.

Everyone sighed and decided to ignore him until he calmed down. After some other sobs and dramatic exhibitions of a heart attack, Lavi finally got back to the initial song. He searched for something in his pockets and finally took a notebook sheet of paper which he raised in a fist to the air with a triumphant "Aha!"

"What's that, Lavi-kun?" asked Lenalee.

"Well, since our tour has just finished, yes girls, that was the last town" he answered to the unasked question of Angel and Izzie, then continued his speech "You all know we have to start working on next album, and I've got our first song and half of the second one, based on our young, pretty and brave girls here" he smiled at the only not-members of the band. They didn't know if they should feel flattered or scared…songs about them?

"The first one is based in last night, you know, we all drunk and I said a really cool phrase that is this song's title 'Damn, you look good and I'm drunk' That's why I asked Angel-chan if she remembered it but, unfortunately and heartbrokenly, she doesn't" he sniffed "But you should take a look at this. It is not completely based on her person, but it came out from that memory" he shoved the paper in front of their noses "Read it, read it, read it, read it, read it. Woaaah, I'm getting a new idea, thank you _Angie_" he kissed Angel's cheek across the table and ran back to the bus, leaving the recently written song in Lenalee's hands.

"Do you wanna read it first, Angel? It is about what happened last night between you and Lavi, or almost like that. He has a really weird way of describing things, you've heard to some songs, so you may have an idea" she tended the note to Angel, who hesitated but finally took it and unfolded the paper.

She started reading. Her face changing as her eyes scanned the verses along the paper. First, it was curiosity, then surprise, then anger and, finally, indignation. She threw the paper over the table and walked into the woods.

"Angel?" Izzie called her. The girl didn't seem to hear, she just kept walking.

"What was it?" Lenalee took the paper she'd thrown and started reading out loud.

_s-c-a-n-d- to the a, to the l-o-u-s._  
_can't handle it, can't handle it._  
_damn that girl she's scandalous._

_its time to get a 10, it's how far if you bring a friend._  
_with them crazy press on nail._  
_uh oh._  
_here's the truth, you're kind of hot._  
_but when you open up to talk, I can feel them going soft._  
_uh oh._

_don't ask me to sign your skin._  
_can't you see these little kids?_  
_you're the kind of girl to take home to mom, if my momma was dead._

_no good._  
_you're up to no good._  
_but damn you look good and I'm drunk._  
_now you got me kind of thinking, like maybe I would._  
_so hard to be good, it's so hard to be good._

_s-c-a-n-d- to the a, to the l-o-u-s._  
_can't handle it, can't handle it._  
_damn that girl she's scandalous._

_girl, I dig your fanny pack._  
_riding low behind your back._  
_give them boys a heart attack._  
_uh oh._  
_but don't come at me when i am lit._  
_saying you just want to kiss._  
_cause lord only knows where you've been._

_don't ask me to sign your skin._  
_I'm honestly not interested._  
_and you're the kind of girl to take home to mom, if my momma was dead._  
_yeah._

_no good._  
_you're up to no good._  
_but damn you look good and I'm drunk._  
_now you got me kind of thinking, like maybe I would._  
_so hard to be good, it's so hard to be good._

"Lavi, dumb guy" Lenalee sighed when she finished reading and folded the paper.

"It's not the worst he has written" Allen shrugged, but he could clearly see why Angel was angry. It may not be the worst Lavi has done when trying to refer to a girl, but maybe Angel wasn't used to guys calling her 'scandalous' or 'the kind of girl he'd take home to mom if his momma was dead'

"But it is still kind of offending" Lenalee debated. Izzie stood up and decided to follow Angel across the woods.

"I will be back in a minute, just need to talk to her" she explained as she headed to the trees, Angel's back was still visible in the distance.

"Tell her Lavi didn't mean it at all" Komui yelled at her and Izzie just waved her hand to make him aware she had heard.

* * *

A/N: Finally I got my freedom back and some free time to write! Well, I hope you like this chapter. Argh, the more I read the last one, the less I like, but well, what's done is done.

Please, leave a review!

Sayo sayo


	14. Chapter 14 Found

_Innocence Rock Time!_

"Stupid, idiot, bastard, jerk, motherfucker, son of a bitch. _You are the kind of girl I'd take home to mom if my momma was dead._ What does he think I have face of? A fucking hooker? A hoe? Writing that stupid thing, he doesn't even have talent, just another stupid guy, just…" Angel continued muttering and cursing while she made her way through the trees, hopping now and then to evade the tall roots that emerged from the earth and dodging the low branches that threatened with scratching her tear-wet face.

She also cursed herself for crying, even when they weren't exactly tears from some kind of pain, but from humiliation. How did Lavi have dared to write something like that? And about her. _Her!_ Angel was sure as hell that she'd never forgive him for doing something so stupid, humiliating and…and…she wasn't even able to find appropriate adjectives to describe the atrocity the singer had made.

The girl continued walking, not even minding where she was going, she just needed some time to be alone. Even when she kept assuring herself that what Lavi had written had nothing to do with her personality, she couldn't avoid doubting about her actions and her reputation. Had she given reasons to the band for thinking she was _that _kind of girl? Had she been so impulsive and reckless, so thoughtless, so insensible? Maybe what she needed to do instead of cursing Lavi was meditate about her behavior of the last weeks.

"I can't believe he did that, I can't believe…aff" she sighed. She was passing one of her legs over a fallen tree when voices made her froze in place. They were loud, not bothering in hiding, and there were many, accompanied with the cacophony of a rush hour on some crowded avenue. How long had she walked?

She looked around, trying to orient herself. The sound couldn't come from far away, just some steps from her place, hided between the thick trees.

Trees. She suddenly realized there was nothing but that: trees and plants and bushes. Angel stood up and glared in all directions, but there was nothing beside that monochromatic green that hid everything else.

Her heart started throbbing painfully inside her chest, adrenaline finding its way through her veins. Was she lost? She didn't even know if she had been walking in a straight line, she could have taken any direction, any turn… she could be anywhere.

The girl tried to contain the panic and remake mentally the path she had taken, but in her memories, as well as right in that moment, there was only green and brown, green and brown, no marks, no references, nothing.

The voices and now a strange music cadence were the only sounds. She tried to hear the avenue of before, but it wasn't there anymore, instead, a male baritone voice sang some Italian song along with casual conversations that seemed out of place. Or was the man singing the one out of place?

Whatever it was, Angel decided that was the closest contact to civilization she had. Her thoughts stopped spinning around Lavi and the song and, instead, blamed herself for getting lost and having to seek the help of some strangers. Hopefully they wouldn't vanish like the crowded highway.

She walked carefully in their direction, a space without trees soon appeared and, in the middle of it, was a truck and human figures sitting in front of a portable television, in which screen another male person stopped singing and a woman occupied its place, talking about something Angel didn't get.

So that was the source of the noisy street and the music.

The persons that were, apparently, camping, didn't bother to look in her direction, not that she was being waited. Angel crouched behind a tree and tried to observe them better, but they –now she recognized tree of them, two men and a girl- were giving her their backs. However, they didn't seem bad people and she needed help, asking for directions couldn't do any harm.

She was about to come out from her hiding place and walk into them, when a branch broke at her back. She stayed still, worried about the possibility that it could be some kind of wild animal, maybe a jaguar, or a wild cat…did they exist in that forest?

Angel hurried to surround the bushes, ignoring the gasps and "shists" at her back. Her hands started sweating and her movements became clumsy as she got more and more nervous.

A whisper. A rush.

She planted her feet on the land, preparing herself to jump over a bush and opened her mouth, but the shriek of help she was planning to make was suddenly muffled by a hand.

Both bodies fell hardly to the floor; a hard 'tump' was everything that could be heard. Angel revolved herself and kicked, struggling to get free from the embrace the strange creature was exerting on her.

A gasp. "Jeez, Angel, stop moving" A familiar voice muttered on her ear. The girl froze and tried to figure out the person that was lying over her.

"I…Izzie, wha…?" she asked, her voice low but not enough for her friend, since she covered again her mouth before she could finish the question.

"Ssh, they can hear you" she whispered.

"Who?" Angel murmured.

"Noahs" she didn't need more explanation. "Now, I'm releasing you, don't run away or make any sound, okay?" Izzie commanded and waited for an answer. Angel just nodded.

The two girls separated and lied over their bellies, their breaths heavy.

Izzie peeked between the bushes behind which they were lying. Angel imitated her and, now that she was observing the scene from a different angle, she could clearly see Tyki Mikk's nose profiling against the light of the tv's screen. On his side, a smaller figure was humming a sweet song and writing something on a notebook. Angel named her as Road Camelot.

And, extinguishing the fire where their meal had apparently been cooked was Sheryl Camelot. He was tall and altive as always, and his outfit was clearly out of place, since he was weating his usual suit instead of camping clothes.

Izzie stared at him with some strange emotion Angel didn't recognize adorning her features. Sheryl had been her father's opponent during the elections, Angel knew it, and he had lost.

"_And, in other news, Camelot's rebellion is still agitating the once calm Atlanta city. The elected president, Mr. Fletcher and the city's main judge, Mr. Leverier, are trying to suppress the movement without success" _the woman in the television said as images of hundreds of people with banners parading in front of the government building appeared in the tv. Izzie and Angel focused on the news bulletin.

"_Sheryl Camelot, the leader of this movement and who claims the elections were manipulated, had convinced the federal government to revise their case, but the violent movements of his followers hadn't abated. Fletcher's house has been nearly fired up, as well as the city hall" _

Izzie felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach when a video of her house's entrance appeared in the screen, dozens of mad people pushing the gate, trying to get in, while some other's threw bottles with flaming papers inside over the wall.

"Guess that's what that son of a bitch deserves for taking _my _place" a deep voice said. Angel recognized it as Sheryl's.

"_Police are doing as much as they can to subdue the rebels, but their efforts don't seem to be good enough. Izzobel Fletcher and Angela Leverier's, the only known relatives of the two principal accused figures, whereabouts are still unknown, allegedly taken by the rebels, but no confirmation has been done. We'll keep you informed of this situation as well as…"_

"Of course, taken by the rebels, why doesn't anyone believe us when we say that they are travelling with those losers of Innocence?" Tyki snorted.

"Because it is _you _the one who says it" A high-pitched voice, so discordant from the male tones, answered sarcastically.

"Yes, as if someone would believe _you"_ the other responded glaring at the girl.

"Of course they'd believe me. I'm adorable in all the meanings of the word"

"Wish so"

"Let's go" Izzie murmured and, slowly, dragged away from the place.

"Izzie?"

"Let's go" the girl interrupted her friend with a hiss. Angel didn't complained and followed her back to their bus.

* * *

"Hey, pay attention here" the older man interrupted them. Tyki and Road immediately turned to face him. "Tyki, don't say anything again about the whereabouts of those two girls, that was a stupid movement I don't want to be repeated. I need you to take them, tell those jerks of your band. Pretend you want to be friend of those girls, I don't know, conquer them or whatever you want, just bring them to me" he said.

"Conquer them? Mmm, can I _play _while that happens?" Tyki crossed his legs and he sounded as if he was smiling. "I found that Fletcher girl really _tasty_"

"Just because she almost left you without descendants" Road giggled.

"Shut up, kid" Tyki growled.

"You can do with them anything you want, as long as they are with _us_. Let's see how much those gentlemen appreciate their girls" Sheryl laughed

Tyki raised an eyebrow in his direction, then he sighed and murmured something about senility. "Well, so this is the job: conquer Izzobel and Angela and bringing them here. I don't assure you they will remain _untouched" _

_"_Can't control your hormones, right, horney boy?" Road smiled.

* * *

"I can't believe he wrote that about me" Angel mumbled as they walked pass the trees, locking her eyes on her feet.

"You know he didn't do it with bad intention" Izzie responded, hopping over a series of branches and roots. Even when she was trying to keep her mind in the issues at hand, she couldn't avoid thinking back and then about her father, the cheat...for some reason, deep inside her, she was kind of trying to convince herself that he had lied, that her father, so honorable, wouldn't do such a repugnant thing. But now, with the news bulletin...even when the woman didn't say exactly that Mr. Fletcher had cheated, the sight of the situation in Atlanta reminded her of her delicate possition and destroyed any kind of hope she might had been having.

"And what if that's the way he sees me? Have I been kind of a...hooker?" doubt tinted her voice.

"Well, you have given no reasons for anyone to think that way about you, but maybe you should try to stop kissing him" Izzie smiled sheepishly.

"He is the one who kisses me" Angel retorted.

"Don't kiss him back, then" they finally saw the great clear where the bus was parked and walked faster to reach their place with the band.

"Oh, they are back" Lenalee sighed in relief when both girls, Izzie and Angel, came out from the forest. Allen and the Chinese walked to greet them while the rest of the band -actually only Kanda and Komui- put everything back in place.

"Feelin' better?"

Angel mumbled an answer and thanked inside her that Lavi was nowhere around.

Too soon for gratitude.

The red head appeared in the main door of the bus and almost crashed into Kanda, who was carrying tupperwares back into the bus.

"Get the fuck out of my way" he pushed Lavi and got in.

"We are going? Now? Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes?" The drummer jumped hyperactively, like a three year old child.

"Yes, Lavi, we are going" Komui answered leniantly.

"Home?"

"Yes, we are going home"

* * *

A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay, it had been hard and busy days, but there is this chapter! Hope you like it and, what about encouraging me with some reviews?

By the way, the song of the last chapter was: Damn, you look good and I'm drunk (Scandalous)-Cobra Starship


	15. Chapter 15

_Innocence Rock Time_

Izzie rolled once more on the bed before waking completely up. She had been so many days without sleeping in a big, comfortable bed that she was still refusing to leave it, even when it was clear she couldn't sleep anymore.

She lay in her back and stared at the white ceiling over her head.

One night before they'd just arrived to Los Angeles, where all Innocence members lived, except Lavi, who had a house in the outskirts of the city which he shared with his grandpa.

Izzie had been so tired when they finally reached the city that she didn't even analyze the way Angel and she were going to be accommodated.

For security reasons, both of them were forced to reside a while in different houses. As soon as they left the bus in a garage, they all took a taxi to different homes.

Angel would be staying a while with Allen.

And she…

Izzie suddenly shuddered. Last night she was so tired she didn't have a chance to realize she was actually staying with _Kanda._

She was in Kanda's house. Her breath was suddenly fast and a cold sweat covered her hands and neck, the beat of her heart fastened and throbbed so hardly against her ribs she thought it'd jump out of her chest.

"This is senseless. Why am I reacting like this? Is just a house" She murmured to herself in a really low voice.

"And why am I talking alone?" she shook her head absently and seated in the border of the bed.

Izzie stared at the marbled floor for a whole minute. She tried to clear her mind without any success at all. Thousands of images just kept running before her eyes and, even when all along the trip she had desired to have some time on her own to reflex about all the happenings, now that she had that opportunity, she regretted having to deal with her thoughts, her problems…

First of all, there was her father's business. What was she supposed to do about it? She felt guilty for not being there to give him support, but, on the other side, she knew she was there because that was what her father wanted. However, she couldn't help but worry all the time for him.

He was her only family, her only true blood connection, she was so scared of losing him that thinking in the idea made her eyes sting with fresh tears.

Secondly, there was all that Innocence issue. She didn't know what to think about it. She was glad and infinitely grateful to all the members of the band for the kindness and hospitality they had shown to Angel and her, but she couldn't help but feeling as a misfit the whole time she spent in the bus.

She just couldn't make herself eased in their presence, they were so different…even Angel had insinuated it in her attempts to convince her friend to attend the concert. Izzie didn't think like the rest of the teenagers. She didn't like loud music, she didn't watch TV because that was a waste of time, and she didn't like attending to big parties, not that she was constantly invited. She wasn't antisocial, since she had lots of friends, but she wasn't neither what could be call as an average girl nor a popular one.

Thirdly, and for her own shame, there was Kanda. She didn't know what to think about him besides that he was really disagreeable. In her opinion, the only good thing of him was his body, but no further than that, nothing else was quite nice.

And, the worst of all was that, in spite of all his defects, Izzie sometimes found her thinking about him, about his perfectly symmetrical oriental features…

Oh, come on, who did she want to fool? She had _kissed _him in a perfectly reckless motion. That should mean something, right?

_No, of course not. _She said to herself in her mind and laughed at her own ingenuity. She, liking Kanda Yuu? Of course not, he was completely the opposite of her, it wouldn't function. And it wasn't like he was ever gonna like her back.

_Don't be ridiculous, Izzie _

She sighed and decided to stand up and get out of her room.

Last night, she hadn't had the opportunity to appreciate the house properly, but now, looking at it under the daylight, she couldn't but delight herself with the elegance with which everything was accommodated.

The walls were all plain white and only one or two bamboo pictures hanged from the walls, otherwise, empties.

She walked into the living room, where the furniture was almost black and a small tea table was placed in the middle of the room, with some cushions around it to sit on them. A big plasma television was the most extravagant thing of the place.

On the opposite wall there was a door that Izzie didn't doubt to cross. The first thing she saw was a big gray refrigerator. She turned around to see the rest of what she now supposed was the kitchen, but her analysis was interrupted by a pair of deep blue eyes, which were staring at her coldly.

"Tsch" he greeted from his chair and sipped some liquid from the cup he had in front of him.

Izzie couldn't speak for space of seconds, completely struck by the vision of the oriental musician. His hair fell freely over his shoulders and he wasn't actually wearing a shirt, that, together with a stoic and calm countenance, almost sucked the air out of the girl's lungs.

"'Morning" she mumbled after a while. Was that what she was feeling blood rising to her cheeks? No, it couldn't be; of course not.

He didn't reply and concentrated in his tea cup as if there wasn't anybody in the house. Izzie felt all the uneasiness of the situation. Her stomach claimed for food, but she didn't feel comfortable enough to ask for it to her new roommate, so she, instead, opted for turning around and pretended to leave, but her stomach gave her hunger away.

"There are scrambled eggs in the pan" Kanda muttered harshly. Without giving his companion time to even thank him, he stood up and left the kitchen with long, indifferent strides.

* * *

That day they weren't allowed to go out, and it wasn't like Kanda was in any mood for it anyway, so Izzie spent most of the day in the room that had been assigned for her, accommodating her few belongings and hanging her clothes in the big closet. After that, there was not much to do, and different lines of thought rose inside her head.

She started regretting and thinking insanely about that night where she was exceedingly drunk. She thought of Kanda and what she had done, and wondered if he ever thought of it too.

The most probable answer was that not; that he didn't even give a damned coin for it, but, however, she started feeling again the urge of apologizing for her extremely thoughtlessness and imprudence.

Around three o'clock, while she was just scribbling something in a notebook just to get herself distracted, since Komui had made it clear that she couldn't try any contact with her father, a knock called her from outside.

She opened the door and only got a glimpse of Kanda's long hair disappearing around the corner, and she guessed it should be interpreted as if he wanted her to follow.

They arrived to the kitchen, where he started serving a plate full of homemade soba on the table. Izzie just stood in the doorframe, not sure what was she supposed to do, until he called her after some seconds of awkward silence.

"Aren't you going to eat?" he asked.

"Amm…yes" the girl answered in a low voice and sat in one of the chairs.

They ate in silence, focused on their plates with perfect indifference.

Izzie was the first to talk.

"This is great" she said for great civility, but the stupidity of the comment stroked her as soon as the words left her lips.

The musician only nodded without lifting his eyes from his plate and Izzie decided that it was a lost battle to try to have a decent conversation with him. However, there was still the same urge of before twisting inside her chest, until she finally decided to let it go.

"I am sorry" she said as she stood with her empty plate to leave it in the sink.

"Huh?"

Izzie interpreted that as a "what?"

"For…amm…you know….the other night" _Damn it, damn it, damn it_

"What night?" he asked as if he really didn't remember.

He fixed his eyes on her and Izzie could feel all the weight of it. Staring at the dark wooden table, she forced herself to speak.

"That one, after the…last concert… 'Drink or go to sleep'? You know…"

"That is a stupid game"

"Maybe. But, what I am trying to say…is to apologize for what I…well, what I did" Izzie approached to the sink and left her plate there, afraid that the shake of her hands would let it fall and break before the conversation was over.

"What are you talking about, woman?" Kanda grumbled and Izzie heard his chair scrape against the floor when he stood up.

She wished she hadn't touched the subject, how badly she wished it that moment, but she hadn't any way out now at all.

"Kissing you…" she whispered so low she wondered if he heard.

"What? Talk louder"

Izzie bit her lip "I…kissed you…don't y-"

"YOU DID WHAT?" his voice got some decibels louder than necessary and the strength of it made Izzie's bones tremble down its power. However, his words were drowned by the sound of ceramic crashing.

"Oh, fuck!"

"I…I…well, I was drunk and I didn't think, I have never been drunk before, don't you think that's funny? They were singing and I didn't think I was so reckless, I, I…" she continued on apologizing hastily to her companion.

"Shut the fuck up, help me clean this" he ordered and left the kitchen.

Izzie turned around and noticed the pieces of what was a plate before scrambled in the floor. She crouched and collected the biggest pieces with her shaky hands.

"Ah!" she exclaimed when a sharp edge crossed her skin and left a line of red liquid streaming along her palm. "Damn…" she searched for the trash bin and threw the broken plate there. In that moment, Kanda appeared with a broom and sweep the scattered pieces.

"What's that?" the bassist asked when he noticed some scarlet coming from the girl's hand, which she tried to contain holding it against her chest.

"I cut" she explained.

"Let me see" he frowned and extended his hand, requesting for hers to analyze.

Reluctantly, she obeyed and Kanda's scowl got deeper when he saw the wound. He then, reached for something on the larder and discovered a first aid kit.

"Don't move" he ordered while taking out a bottle with some liquid inside it that Izzie named as alcohol. She tried to swallow the lump of her throat as he prepared the things and put all her efforts for not making a scene when the liquid made her wound burn.

She rapidly opened the faucet of the sink and washed her hand there, rubbing it so it got rapidly disinfected.

Kanda, then, bandaged her hand. She would have preferred to do it on her own, but the truth is that it wasn't exactly an easy job when she had only one hand available, so Izzie just let it be against her own will.

"Try to be less stupid next time" he said when they were done with the healing.

"I was just trying to help" Izzie replied in her defense.

"You were the one who made me throw that fucking plate"

"Now it is my fault" the girl inquired sarcastically.

"Yes"

"Oh, this is unbelievable" Izzie exclaimed for herself in a low voice. Blaming her for letting the stupid plate fall! What a jerk!

"And don't dare you try to kiss me again" he sentenced after an uncomfortable silence.

"I wouldn't kiss anyone with such a bad memory" she affirmed with a resentful tone. What an asshole he was resulting to be!

"Of course, woman" he added sarcastically and walked to the exit.

"Trust me, Kanda, you are the least person I'd kiss in my life" she muttered, but he was already gone.

* * *

A/N: Okay, first of all, I know I said this story was cancelled, but a few days ago, while revising all my files, I discovered that this chapter was practically half written and that my inspiration wasn't gone at all, so I decided to finish it and publish. I'm not quite sure if the story will continue, it'd depend, I guess, in how my muses behave ;)

I am sorry for all Angel's fans for not making her appear here, hopefully she will come out more in case I continue this.

Leave a review and sorry for the delay and scaring you all, my good followers! What about encouraging me and leave some review? ;)

Sayonara!


	16. Chapter 16 Angie

_Innocence Rock Time_

"Thank you, Allen" Angel smiled when her roommate passed her a cup of homemade tea.

"You are very welco…"

"MOYASHI! ANGEEEEL! I AAAAM HEEEREEEEEE" a slam, then a series of footsteps came along with certain red haired boy.

Angel didn't bother in hide her annoyed expression, what was more, she even scowled deeper when Lavi's head appeared in the kitchen.

"Hey, Lavi" Allen happily greeted, though a huge sweatdrop could be visible in his nape.

"Oh, how long these days have been without you!" Lavi suddenly squeezed poor Allen between his arms and rubbed his cheeks against his. "I missed you so much!"

"But…they have been…only…three days…." Allen exclaimed while trying to breathe.

"They felt like eternity! ANGEL-CHAN!" the singer jumped over the kitchen's table to hug the girl, but Angel, with all the dignity and pride she had, stood up and the man landed over an empty chair and, subsequently, hit the floor.

"Oww, why you stood up?" he protested.

"Oh, I didn't know you were there" she replied nonchalantly. "I'm taking a bath"

"Don't take long, Angel-chan! I've got a new song for ya'" Lavi waved to the frame where Angel had disappeared with unnecessary enthusiasm.

The bathroom's door closed with more strength than necessary.

"What a lovely girl" Lavi said and sat in Angel's chair.

"I don't think she feels the same about you" Allen commented vaguely and took a seat in front of Lavi.

"Of course she feels the same about me. I mean…it's…ME! Even Yuu wants me!"

"Dead" Allen completed Lavi's incoherent phrase "What I mean, have you ever analyzed what you wrote for Angel?"

"What for? I wrote it! Do you wanna read the new song? I have it right here" Lavi started searching inside his pockets and shirt. "Ahá!" he extracted from his clothes a sheet of paper. "I was planning to drag you all to Yuu's place and sing it there. What do you think?" he waved the paper in front of Allen's face until the boy took it and started scanning the words.

"Hmp…maybe you shouldn't show this to her…" Allen tried to speak his mind without hurting the singer's feelings, which was kind of difficult in his situation since the guy was extremely sensitive. He returned the paper to Lavi who wrapped it and put it into one of his pockets.

"Why not? I'm sure she'd love it!"

"Amm…what would you feel if someone calls you 'whore'?"

"I'd feel like saying 'How ya' doin'?" Lavi moved his eyebrows and smiled in what was supposed to be a charming and seductive expression.

Allen shuddered and felt like vomiting when Lavi looked at him that way.

"Okay, avoiding the fact that you are actually a whore, how would you feel if you weren't a whore and someone called you a whore?"

"Did someone call you a whore? Then it means she -or he- probably wants to sleep wi…"

"LAVI!" Allen finally lost his patience and went directly to the point "Listen to me! That song you wrote before sounds like something dedicated to a whore, and, trust me, Angel is nothing even close to a whore!"

"I didn't say she is! I didn't even think it that way"

"But that's the way you made her feel" Allen explained seriously.

"She can't feel that! I never thought that of her and I always speak my mind when I write, there's no way it could have been misunderstood!" Lavi tried to justify his music. Come on! They were talking about HIS lyrics, his art, his passion…

"We all know you didn't do it with that intention, but she felt it like…"

"Let's consult it with Yuu-pon and Izzie-chan! They'd have an answer to this! And Lenalee!" the redheaded interrupted Allen with a determined spark in his eyes. The keyboardist sighed and decided that there was nothing else to be done, and decided to leave the matter to someone else.

* * *

"It is a song for a dammed hooker" Kanda declared in a cool tone. "Now, get out"

"But but but but but but but but but but but but but but but but but but…Lena-chan?" he searched for support in the raven girl, who looked back at him with amusement.

"It is true, Lavi. I am sorry…" she declared and felt almost ashamed when the light drifted away from Lavi's eyes.

"So that's why she hadn't talk to me these last days?"

"Yep"

"Yes"

"Che"

They were congregated in Kanda's dining room against the bassist will. Lenalee, Allen and Lavi had arrived some minutes before and gave the two girls who weren't members of the band some time by themselves, since they both had to talk about some serious issues, so Angel and Izzie were enclosed in the latter's room while the rest of them chatted around Kanda's table.

"So, what do I have to do?" Lavi now had that look of total regret and an air of a man condemned to die in the electric chair. He scanned everyone in the room and decided to talk to the friendlier face, who was Lenalee.

"Apologize, that's what you need to do" she answered. "Come on, I am sure she will forgive you. Explain you didn't mean to hurt her feelings"

"And if she doesn't accept my apologies?" he inquired.

"Then just get your fucking ass out of my house" Kanda hastily contested, but his commentaries ware left out by Lenalee's sweet advice.

"Come on, she is a good person, I'm sure she will forgive you"

"Or castrate you" Allen smiled sadistically.

Lavi moaned dramatically and buried his face in his hands with sorrow. Lenalee pitied him, she knew he was a kind person, a little dumb, but that was what people usted to find cute in him. A few seconds after, however, he lifted his head again. "And if she reads the new song?"

"You wrote a new song?" Lenalee inquired, but was interrupted by Allen's sudden expression.

"Don't you dare show that to her"

"Let me see" the female singer tended her hand in Lavi's direction, indicating him to deliver her the paper. He searched again in his pockets and put the song in her hands.

"_Angie?_" she read aloud and gave Lavi a meaningful glance. The redheaded shrugged. "It's an abbreviation of her name"

"_Angie I know you  
you know it's true  
please don't ask me to believe  
baby I got you, cause I always knew  
You were just having, fun having fun"_ Lenalee raised an eyebrow to Lavi's form.

The said man denied with his head and hastily took the paper from the girl's hands.

"You have to put feeling in it. Listen" And he started singing

"_Angie I know you  
I said you know it true  
please don't ask me to believe  
baby i got you, cause i always knew  
You were just having, fun having fun_

_You got it all and I just really gotta know what more can i say?_  
_I just wanted to believe that there was room for me _  
_oh oh oh no you just wanted to play_  
_oh oh oh no i give you all I got, Angie can we just find a way_

_say no more say no more Angie please don't tell me no  
and I ain't mad, cause you know I understand  
you know understand ANGIE ANGIE_

_Angie I know you_  
_you know it true_  
_please don't ask me to believe_  
_baby I got you, cause I always knew_  
_You were just having, fun having fun_

_so here's the thing, yeah you know that I'm a man _  
_who can understand, the way it gotta be_  
_If you need room to breathe _  
_oh oh oh no you still ask me to wait_  
_oh oh oh no but I can't wait forever Angie can we make it today_

_say no more say no more Angie please don't tell me no_  
_and I ain't mad, cause you know I understand_  
_you know understand you were just having fun, having fun_

_say no more say no more Angie please don't tell me no_  
_and I ain't mad, cause you know I understand_  
_you know understand ANGIE ANGIE_

_ANGIE ANGIE_"

Then you repeat the pre-chorus and chorus together and…" Lavi could feel the suddenly stiffened atmosphere. He raised his head and looked around, searching for the source of the awkward silence when a pair of brownish iris caught his eye.

He stared directly into them, shy and uncomfortable for the first time in... in… when was the last time he ever felt insecure of himself? He didn't remember, but the fear of having insulted her for a second time washed him from head to toes. He didn't remember ever being so nervous, and since he had photographic memory, he knew this was the first time ever that his heart was pumping so hard.

Except that day when the Noah's intercepted Allen and him, but that was a completely different kind of fear.

He gulped and opened his mouth, but closed it again when he didn't know what to say. Where was the always cheerful and dumb Lavi of always now?

"I never meant to play with you" were the first words that came from Angel's lips. "I am not _that _kind of girl" she firmly declared.

"I know" Lavi said when he finally found his voice. "I am…I am sorry if I hurt you" he tried to swallow the lump of his throat after saying those words and hoped she hadn't heard the tremble in it.

"However, I like the rest of the song" Angel smiled bashfully and approached to take the paper off Lavi's hands. A second too later the singer finally reacted and embraced the poor girl in a huge hug.

"OOOHHH ANGEEEEL-CHAAAAN YOU ARE SO SO SO SO SO SO SO GOOOD! YOU ARE…YOU AREE… YOU ARE AN ANGEL!" he hold her tighter without caring if the poor girl was breathing or not. "I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY" he cried dramatically.

"Okay okay, I get it, now let me breathe!" Angel struggled for some air but Lavi just kept ignoring her petitions and squeezed her even more.

"I WILL WRITE A NEW SONG! YES! OF YOU BOTH!" he pointed at Izzie who was still standing in the doorframe. "AND AND AND AND AND AND… THANK YOU ANGEL-CHAN!"

"Okay, now, all of you, get the fuck out of here" Kanda stood up and walked to them, decided to kick Lavi's ass out of his house at last.

* * *

A/N: I know is short, so please don't kill me! I hope you liked this chapter, there's not a lot of action, but it was important to reconcile Lavi and Angel so the rest of the story and develop properly and make it clear that Angel is NOT a whore, she is just a little reckless and childish, that's all, but she is a good person.

The song used here is Angie by Cobra Starship. Maybe the song isn't really sentimental or something Angel would wait as an apology, but it kind of fits with the situation, since it is about some boy begging to the girl for another opportunity (well, in the song it gives to understand that the girl was ill-intentioned, but this is not the case) and Lavi is looking for another chance to be friend again of Angel. On the course of the story he will get a bit more sensible and write songs with more feeling, but that maybe takes some more chapters.

THERE'S A NEW COBRA STARSHIP'S ALBUM JUST ROUND THE CORNER! The first song "You make me feel" is now available by FueledByRamen on Youtube and in iTunes. I gotta say I was quite disappointed when I heard how much their sound has changed, but guess that's the way a band has to evolve. The album is named Night Shades and it will be released THIS SUMMER, YAY! So I'm gonna have an actualized muse and a lot of inspiration.

Leave a review if you like it, but be kind, please? *puppy eyes*


	17. Chapter 17 You make me feel

_Innocence Rock Time_

"This is beautiful!" Angel exclaimed as she watched a series of night dresses displayed in the sideboard of one of the mall's boutique.

"Can you see it? The blue one! What a beautiful color! And that one at the left, it'd look amazing on you, Izzie-chan!"

"Now you are talking like Lavi" Izzie rolled her eyes but couldn't help to smirk a bit. After Angel and Lavi's reconciliation, the relationship between them both had improved to really high levels.

Every day, Lavi would go to Allen's place and drag the girl out of the house without permission. Even though Komui had made it clear that it'd be the best if both girls could spend the most of their time at the assigned houses, the singer didn't really seem to take the advice seriously.

However, they did go to _his _house in the outskirts of town, and, as far as Izzie knew, they spent the whole morning and half the evening writing songs, singing and playing. Then, they'd all go to Kanda's home, since he was never willing to leave the place, and show them their work, which, with Angel's help, had became more mature and sentimental, but still carried the glee of Lavi's contribution.

"Oh, don't say that!" Angel exclaimed and a hint of a blush colored her cheeks. "Look, let's try that one!" she pointed to another boutique, where a set of cocktail dresses were being displayed.

"Don't change the subject!" Izzie demanded, laughing at Angel's childish reaction "Are you dating?"

"Of course they are dating" Lenalee declared as she walked out from Starbuck's carrying a coffee in one hand and a set of bags hanging from her other elbow.

The mall was almost empty, it was really early in the morning, so the Chinese singer could walk without having to stop every three minutes to give autographs or salute someone. However, she did spent some time in Starbucks signing papers.

"No, we are not!" Angel defended "I'm just helping him writing songs and…"

"So cheesy and romantic songs, what a coincidence" the female singer smiled. "What a shame, you hadn't bought anything, Izzie!" she alarmed, interrupting Angel's excuse in the middle and leaving the younger girl blushed and biting her tongue.

"I…I have enough clothes from our last shopping, Lenalee" Izzie explained "I can manage with them"

"Oh, but you have bought books and a…a notebook? What for?" Lenalee inquired, fidgeting in Izzie's bags with the only hand she had free. "I'm sure your father didn't put money in Komui's account so you can buy this"

Izzie's countenance darkened a bit at the mention of her father. She was still upset, really upset, by what his progenitor did, attempting against all the rules and principles he had taught her, disappointing his daughter in a level that he couldn't even imagine.

Even when the problems in Atlanta had diminished, the political agitation continued, less violent but more dangerous, since so many politics were involved with mafia groups, especially if we were talking about the Camelot's. So neither Izzie nor Angel were allowed to go back, and now that half a month had passed, they were obliged to get used to the style of life they had taken. For this, Izzie's father sent money to Komui's bank account for the maintenance of Angel and his daughter.

They had known nothing about Leverrier, just some assurances from a note left to Lenalee's brother that he was still alive. He hadn't shown any deference for his adoptive child and Izzie was afraid that this may low Angel's spirits, but the girl just kept convincing everybody –and herself- that the judge was probably so busy that he didn't have time even for sleeping.

"Come on, let's get you some clothes" Lenalee dragged Izzie out of her thoughts and to a boutique with an Abercrombie and Fitch symbol on the front and started selecting blouses now and then together with some shorts, jeans and some trousers.

"I'm not sure I can afford this right no…"

"Don't be silly, Izzie, your father sent enough money for buying the whole store. Now, go, go, try these ones, give me those bags, go, I'm going to bring something else" Lenalee pushed the girl to one of the changing rooms and hurried to get some other clothes around Izzie's size. Angel stayed making guard at one side of the door, making sure that Izzie wouldn't escape, while text messaging with her new cell phone.

After half an hour fitting the different pieces and discarding three quarters of what Lenalee had offered her, Izzie finally approached the cashier to pay for her new acquisitions.

"Okay, so one more visit to Gucci and we are done" Lenalee declared and leaded the small girl group across the mall and into a big, elegant store.

As soon as they had crossed the crystal doors and stepped into the laminated floor, a man in a suit walked into them and asked in a kind voice if he could offer them some help.

"We are looking for some nice dresses for a party this Saturday. Not too formal, but a little bit elegant" Lenalee requested. The employee smiled and commanded the group to follow him into one corner reserved exclusively for juvenile, modern outfits.

"May I help you in something else?" he gently asked. Lenalee shook her head and amiably thanked him before digging into the sea of cloth, satin and silk.

"What are you doing standing there? Come, look for something!" she demanded and examined a pretty strapless pink dress.

"What did you mean with 'we are having a party this Saturday?" Izzie asked and looked absently at one of the pieces.

"What I just meant" the singer responded "We are having a party, is like a mini-concert, in the Hilton. Is to present our music to a group of judges and see if we are nominated for a Grammy!" her voice elevated to a high-pitched tone from the emotion. "Isn't that great?"

"Indeed!" Izzie could hardly hide her surprise "Why does it come that we never heard of it before?" the girl pointed in Angel's and hers direction.

"I knew it" the other girl affirmed without lifting her eyes from the screen of her mobile.

"Really?"

"Yep, Lavi told me" she said absently.

"Of course" Izzie consented sarcastically. "So I was the only one ignorant about it"

"Kanda didn't tell you?" Lenalee inquired, crossing a light-green dress over her arm.

"He is not the most talkative person of all" the raven girl contested.

It had been more than two weeks living with the bassist and she still couldn't make herself comfortable in his house. She had some inclination to feeling as an intruder whenever she was forced to stay in someone else's home and the cold character of Kanda didn't help to ease herself.

"I know" Lenalee smiled "But I guessed that maybe after all this time you could have got from him a complete sentence"

"Well, no" Izzie lied, remembering the last time that she and her roommate had the closest thing to a conversation, or, better said, an argue.

"Hmm…even when he is one of the most wanted boys in the occidental world, his manners don't seem to improve. However, he is a good person, with the time you'll know him" the singer condescended. "Good Lord! You haven't chosen anything!"

"I don't think I can afford this, Lenalee" Izzie excused herself, showing the girl the label of the only dress she had liked all along.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous! Come, try this one, it'll look amazing on you! With some high heels, I almost forgot to go to a shoe store! And you, Angel, stop texting with Lavi, you saw him yesterday! Come, take this one" Lenalee took away Angel's phone and, ignoring her protests, filled the girl's arms with a mountain of dresses previously selected. "I knew you both wouldn't be willing to do this, so I prepared myself" the Chinese winked and forced her companions to the fitting rooms.

* * *

"You look…amazing! Lavi will dribble as soon as he sees you" the female singer exclaimed, appreciating Angel from head to toes.

The girl was wearing a wine-red-color cocktail dress. It had an oriental cut on the top part, with some smooth golden intricate running down Angel's figure and finishing just over the silk, short skirt. The said girl spun a bit, enjoying how the skirt blew with her movements.

"I like it" she declared and proceeded to look to the label down her arm. "But…is too expensive" her smile suddenly faded and a disappointed look replaced it.

"Don't worry" Lenalee took out her cell phone and hastily took a photo. "Since nii-san and I are the ones who manage the incomes of the band…I don't think Lavi would be annoyed if we take some of his part" the singer said as she texted something in her mobile.

"Wha…what?" Angel's eyes widened in amusement and her face turned suddenly crimson. "But…but I can't…ask Lavi if…"

"You are not asking, I have already asked for you" Lenalee innocently smiled. "He cannot deny as soon as he sees the photo"

"But…but…but…no!" the victim tried to get the cell phone off her friend's hand, but Lenalee was some inches taller and it basted only rising the item over their heads to keep it safe.

Suddenly, the screen glowed and a short beep sounded. Angel froze with expectation and stared at Lenalee's grin while she read the message. There were only two words which the singer showed to Angel: 'Buy it!'

"What's that racket?" their other friend came out from another cubicle to see what was going on.

Lenalee and Angel stared at her for a pair of seconds before smiling.

"What?" Izzie asked with bewilderment.

"You look…wow!"

"It's awesome!"

"Is too…short" Izzie tried to cover the other half of her tights pulling down the hem.

"Oh, come on, you look amazing! You are absolutely getting it!"

"I don't think I can buy…"

"Don't come with the same excuse, come, change yourself and let's go, we have no time to lose" Lenalee's smile widened.

Izzie wanted to contradict her, but she decided it would be better just to let it be for the moment. She changed to her original clothes and planned to leave the dress before Lenalee noticed, but the singer rushed into her cubicle and took the piece.

"How do you suppose I am going to afford it? It is half the money my…" Izzie left the phrase unfinished. She still couldn't appeal to the man with whom she had talked so many weeks ago as 'father'.

"Don't worry, it will run on someone else's account" Lenalee affirmed as she handed the cashier a black credit card.

"Who?" Her friend inquired with curiosity and suspicion.

"Kanda"

* * *

"Come on, come on!" Lenalee hurried her female friends. They were all in Angel's provisional room preparing themselves for the party.

"I'm going" Angel finished putting her shoes on and swayed in unbalance when she stood up over the twelve centimeters high heels. "woaa" she exclaimed and gave a few hesitating steps before getting used to the altitude.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She was visibly taller; the new dress fitted her perfectly and made a good combination with the pair of earrings in form of tear she was wearing. The makeup was charged, with her eyes as her most outstanding feature, gracefully outlined.

"Come on, Izzie, we'll wait for you in the living room" Lenalee yelled at the bathroom's door, where the missing girl was still dressing.

The former and her friend joined with the rest of the band and were received by some whistles and the fool expression of Lavi.

"Gorgeous" Allen conceded without taking his eyes off Lenalee's short black dress. It was collarless and some pink silk strips tangled elegantly around her arms up to the elbow. Her hair was fixed in a bun with some rebel locks falling, framing her delicate face.

"Absolutely" Lavi grinned when he recovered the composure and, standing up, took one of Angel's hands and kissed it. "Hello, _mademoiselle_"

Angel felt her face burn and needed two seconds to control her tongue and whisper roughly a reply. She then accepted the seat the redheaded offered her and sat there some minutes in awkward silence.

"Che, where's the fucking _goblin hime_?" Kanda harshly asked, setting his eyes in nothing especial.

"Goblin hime?" Allen interested "If you are looking for a princess, you just need to grab a mirror" he mischievously smirked.

"Shut the fuck up, you fucking faggot" Kanda snapped at him.

"Ow, you are mad because you lost your tiara" the other sang in a condescending tone, as if he was talking to a three-year-old boy.

"I am mad because of your fucking damned existence!"

"Because you are in love with me and don't want to admit it?" the keyboardist teased, a smile crossing his face.

"As if anyone in its five senses would ever be in love with a _beansprout_"

"Allen! My name is Allen!"

"Moyashi"

"Princess"

"Faggot"

A whistle interrupted their discussion. Kanda turned around to send an assassin look to the one who dared making such a noise when his eyes stopped in the figure that had just appeared in the doorframe of the living-room.

She was wearing a strapless body-fitting tight pink dress which accentuated her slim figure and thin waist. A long clothe extended vertically in the front part of the dress made it look bold and modern. Her long hair was accommodated in a bun in a similar way of Lenalee's and pearl accessories complemented the outfit.

"You are looking spectacular, Izzie-chan!" Lavi exclaimed and, for some reason, this made Kanda's angriness grow.

How dared that rabbit address her like that? He wished to give him a harsh retort, but his eyes just couldn't get off the girl. Unbelievable that they had lived together for about three weeks and he never noticed that she was…that she was… well, that she was like _that_.

"Thank you, Lavi" Izzie smiled sheepishly and her own shyness stroke Kanda harder than if she had…than if she had… what? Seduced him? What stupid thoughts he was having. Kanda finally managed to avert his eyes from Izzie's figure only to notice Lenalee smirking at him.

"Well, we go now?" Allen proposed, containing an explosion of laughter at Kanda's confused and bewildered expression.

"Yeep, let's go!" Lavi hurried to the door, dragging Angel along with him and they all headed to the limo Komui had hired for them.

* * *

"We are very very happy and flattered that you have invited us tonight. Thank you very much for considering our job worth some nomination; it is an honor for us to share our music with so high celebrities like the ones reunited here tonight" Lenalee spoke through the microphone to the audience.

The Hilton's principal salon was filled with different music producers, companies, cameramen, singers, composers, and other invited bands and musicians.

Innocence had one table exclusively for themselves close to the stage, elegantly illuminated by an enormous candelabra hanging from the roof. Angel and Izzie contemplated the show from their sits, smiling encouragingly to their friends.

On the other side of the room, opposite to them but equally close to the stage, there were Noah's Ark members. Some of them looked at Innocence with disdain, others, in Rhode's and Tyki's cases, with mocking smiles.

Izzie scowled and scanned the room in search of Sheryl Camelot, afraid that he might be there and, consequently, Angel and she had to leave. Fortunately, there was no sign of him, and Izzie managed to relax.

"So now, we are gonna sing one of our latest songs, not yet released" Lavi said through the microphone. He had exchanged places with Kanda, so the original bassist was now at the drums while the redheaded replaced him in the front. "I wanna dedicate this to a special lady sitting at our table. And I gotta say that she is an _angel_"

Angel's cheeks turned crimson when Lavi smiled at her and she couldn't help to wave shyly back at him.

The male singer was looking impossibly handsome in his black formal trousers and red shirt, with dark sneakers that gave him a gawky air.

Kanda was dressed in a similar way, with a black buttons shirt which enhanced his cobalt eyes; while Allen wore his typical British suit.

Lights went out and a sweet pop rhythm filled the air, accompanied by Lavi's voice.

_Na na na na na  
Na na na na na  
Na na na na na  
Na na na na na_

_Girl I've been all over the world  
Looking for you  
I'm known for taking what I think I deserve  
And you're overdue_

_And if you listen you can hear me through the __radio__  
In that __bright white__ noise  
What I been missing in my life  
What I been dreaming of  
You'll be that girl  
You'll be that girl  
You'll be_

Here, Lenalee approached to the microphone and sang the pre-chorus with her sweet, female voice, turned bolder, to fit with the music style.

The girl tried to avoid her brother's eyes, knowing that the words she was about to say weren't of Komui's likeness.

_Everything you want so let me get up there  
I'm the baddest baby in the atmosphere  
Tell me what you want so we can do just what you like_

In the chorus, hers and Lavi's voice complemented perfectly each other's.

_You make me feel that  
Na na na na na  
You make me feel so  
Na na na na na  
You make me feel that  
Na na na na na  
You make me feel so  
Na na na na na  
You, you make me feel that_

Lavi walked to one corner of the stage, closer to Angel's seat, crouched down and stared directly into her eyes.

He did it before, he remembered the concert where they met, but what he didn't remember was feeling that contraction in the mouth of his stomach when she looked back at him.

_Get a little closer to me girl  
And you'll understand  
'Cause if you want a guy that knows what you need  
Well, then I'm your man_

She flushed hard and Lavi missed the first part of the next verse, but rapidly corrected his mistake so that it wasn't too noticeable.

_if I listen I can hear you through my radio  
In that bright white noise  
What I been missing in my life  
What I been dreaming of  
You'll be that girl  
You'll be that girl  
You'll be_

Lenalee's part was next and Lavi took advantage of it to recover his breath.

_Everything you want so let me get up there  
I'm the baddest baby in the atmosphere  
Tell me what you want so we can do just what you like_

_Ooh  
Everything you know I'm flipping upside down  
Take you 'round the world  
You know I like it loud  
Tell me what you want 'cause we can do just what you like_

When the chorus arrived, he felt sure of himself again, so sure that he even untied his tie and pulled it a bit in a sexy manner, procuring not to look in his table's direction so he wouldn't notice how Angel was breathless.

_You make me feel that  
Na na na na na  
You make me feel so  
Na na na na na  
You make me feel that  
Na na na na na  
You make me feel so  
Na na na na na  
You make me feel, oh  
Na na na na na  
You make me feel that  
Na na na na na  
You make me feel so  
Na na na na na  
You make me feel, oh  
Na na na na na_

_Put your hands up  
Put your hands up  
Let the lights __drop__  
Let the lights drop  
Make __my world__ stop  
Make my world stop_

The chorus was repeated one more time and the song finally finished. The room was filled with applauses and the band got off-stage between a bunch of congratulations and praises.

"Was it great or what?" Lavi exclaimed excitedly and sat next to Angel, all his uneasiness drained out of his mind.

"Awesome" the girl conceded.

"Stunning" Izzie simply said.

"Thank you, thank you, we all know the best one was the keyboardist" Allen smiled and made a bow to the ladies.

"The smallest, you mean" Kanda harshly muttered.

"I am growing, BaKanda!" the keyboardist defended, infuriated.

"Yeah, yeah, I won't be surprise when someone squashes your pale ass"

"Stop polluting my precious Lenalee's ears with your vulgar language!" Komui cried and covered his sister's ears dramatically, scowling at the two boys fighting.

"He started" the white-haired pointed to Kanda with an accusatory finger.

Before the bassist could make any harsh retort, a deep, male voice talked right in front of him.

"Hola, _Isabel_" it had a notorious Portuguese accent. The whole band turned to face the unwelcome intruder with resentment and, in Kanda's case, pure hatred.

Tyki Mikk was standing beside Izzie's seat and looked exclusively at the girl, ignoring the hostile eyes staring at him.

"Hey" she forced an answer, deliberatively grabbing a glass with white wine and sipping it so she had an excuse for not meeting the Portuguese's eyes.

"You don't have to be so cold, darling" Tyki's fingers sweetly caressed one of Izzie's exposed shoulders and the girl immediately retrieved at the contact, spilling some wine over the tablecloth.

"What was that, _Isabel_?" he pronounced her name in a different, especial way that made her transport back to the Iberian Peninsula.

"Don't you remember the other night?" Noah's Ark singer whispered in her ear, pressing his lips against the sensitive skin under the lobe.

Izzie jolted away and was about to slap Tyki for his audacity when the sound of a chair falling caught her attention.

"Get your fucking ass out of here" Kanda commanded with a hardly controlled tone of voice, oozing venom through his words.

Tyki raised his eyebrows in surprise at Kanda's and gave half a step back. However, he wasn't easily intimidated and a smirk appeared in his features.

"I was just apologizing, Kanda, you don't have to be jealous" he contested innocently. The singer searched something inside his black blazer and deposited a white rose over Izzie's empty plate.

"I am sorry about the other night" he said "I was an asshole and I promise I will treat you the way you deserve from now on. I can prove it if you accept going on a date with me"

"Go away" the girl hissed after a few seconds of tense silence. Izzie took the flower and handed it back to Tyki, but he just shook his head "It is for you. You can throw it away if it is that unwelcomed. I will pick you up tomorrow at six o'clock"

It was not a question and it made Kanda's blood boil.

"No" the bassist hastily interfered. "Go or I am gonna kick your fucking ass out!"

"Oh, I am sorry; I didn't know you both were together. Then, I better don't disturb you any more" Tyki gave them a fake smile and prepared himself to leave, but before he stalked back to his own table, he murmured some unintelligible words to Izzie in Portuguese, too similar to Spanish that they were easily interpreted.

"It would be better for you and your father" he said in the foreign language "if you just drop that bad-tempered musician and accept my offer. I'll see you tomorrow in Quentin's at six" and left Izzie to deal with her own concern.

* * *

A/N: READ!

First of all, I wanna clear some matters:

Lavi is falling for Angel, but he never expected the feeling to be so overwhelming. He thinks it is just a slight inclination and a good communication with someone of a similar temper, however, he'll discover it keeps growing as the chapters pass. Angel is, definetely, in love with him, but in her own way.

Kanda is NOT in love with Izzie; he just likes her physics and finds her agreeable and tolerable because she is quiet and serious (Which will be explain in some other chapter) and his reactions towards Tyki Mikk were because he simply hates him and hates seeing him so close to a girl Kanda thinks is in love with him (since she kissed him) and his pride cannot accepts that she can fall for another guy (egoistic jerk!)

Kanda's nickname for Izzie (goblin princess) will be explained in another chapter

I am struggling a little right now with this new appearance of Tyki. This is, naturally, a KandaxOC fanfiction, but I like the idea of messing around a bit. Should Izzie go on an affair with Tyki and fall into his charms or just stay with Kanda?

So I am going to submit this to votation: **TEAM TYKI OR TEAM KANDA? VOTE! **

The song used here is You make me feel from Cobra Starship


	18. Chapter 18 Can't take my eyes off of you

_Innocence Rock Time!_

After two other musicians' performance, it was Noah's Ark turn to delight the audience with a show.

The integrants accommodated themselves in their positions: Jasdero with one of the guitars; Debitto as the bassist; Tyki as the second guitarist and principal voice; and there was a big guy in the drums and a very pretty woman placed herself behind the keyboard. Angel identified them as Skinn Bolic and Lulubell respectively and communicated it to Izzie, but she hardly paid attention.

"I wanna dedicate this song to one of the most beautiful and fascinating girls I have ever met" Tyki said to the public "I hope she realizes with this how deeply in love I am with her; _Isabel_, this is for you" the singer blew a kiss to Izzie and winked at her with gallantry.

She turned around with disdain, but blood suddenly arose to her cheeks.

Nobody had ever done something like that for her, and receiving such an attention from one of the most famous and sexiest singers of the moment was something any girl would have killed for; but before the song started, Izzie remembered Tyki's malicious words about her father and she felt again her original displeasure.

_You're just too good to be true  
Can't keep my eyes off of you  
You feel like heaven to touch  
I wanna hold you so much  
At long last love has arrived  
And I thank God I'm alive  
You're just too good to be true  
Can't take my eyes off you_

The song started with a calm rhythm, almost sweet, and Tyki's deep voice sang in a seductive manner, moving his lips more than necessary and locking his gaze in some random lady of the public, but always returning to Izzie. (A/N: it is getting hotter here, don't you think? xD)

_Pardon the way that I stare  
There's nothing else to compare  
The sight of you makes me weak  
There are no words left to speak  
But if you feel like I feel  
Please let me know that it's real  
You're just too good to be true  
Can't take my eyes off of you_

The apparent calmness disappeared and a pandemonium of guitars and drums shook Izzie's spine. She felt ashamed for being so captivated by Tyki's golden irises and averted her eyes immediately, but that couldn't last much, since Tyki's way of singing was just…fascinating.

_I love you, baby  
And if it's quite all right  
I need you, baby  
To warm the lonely nights  
I love you, baby  
Trust in me when I say  
Oh, pretty baby  
Don't bring me down, I pray  
Oh, pretty baby  
Now that I found you, stay  
And let me love you, baby  
Let me love you_

"Stop scowling so badly, you'll get wrinkles" Allen mischievously murmured to Kanda. The bassist had an expression with so much coldness and hatred that it would have frozen hell over.

"He is the biggest dammed motherfucker, asshole, womanizer and jerk that has ever existed" the bassist muttered under his breath.

"Is that jealousy I detect in your voice, BaKanda?"

"Che, hell, no" the Oriental musician affirmed, but he still couldn't deny the way his anger level grew when he saw Izzie blushing.

_You're just too good to be true  
Can't keep my eyes off of you  
You feel like heaven to touch  
I wanna hold you so much  
At long last love has arrived  
And I thank God I'm alive  
You're just too good to be true  
Can't take my eyes off of you_

_I love you, baby  
And if it's quite all right  
I need you, baby  
To warm the lonely nights  
I love you, baby  
Trust in me when I say  
Oh, pretty baby  
Don't bring me down, I pray  
Oh, pretty baby  
Now that I found you this day  
Let me love you, baby  
Let me love you_

"What a stupid song" Kanda exclaimed when the band finished. However, Noah's Ark performance was praised and clapped with the same enthusiasm the audience had given to Innocence.

After that, and a general congratulation, dinner was served and a ball was immediately established.

The tables of the centre were removed to leave enough space for a dance floor and sweet jazz music was played from the stage, where a saxophonist walked at the rhythm of his own notes under the smooth light of the candelabra.

"Hey, Angel-chan" Lavi called while a waiter retired his plates. Angel turned in his direction with her mouth still full with the last bite.

"Let's dance" the redheaded proposed.

Angel swallowed her food with a gulp of water and accepted the hand Lavi had offered her.

"Hey, BaKanda, don't you wanna dance with me?" Allen teased from the opposite side of the table when the first couple was gone.

Kanda hadn't stopped scowling since Noah's Ark performance and he only contested with a "Go to hell" hiss, and returned to his completely anti-social dark mode.

After some uncomfortable minutes, Komui dragged Lenalee to the dance floor before Allen was able to ask her to dance. The manager was still angry with the keyboardist for kissing his sister under the influence of alcohol and the only reason why he hadn't killed him was because he knew how much that'd hurt the Chinese singer. However, he procured to be more cautious and hostile with Allen than with anyone else.

So there were left in the table only Kanda, Izzie and Allen and since the former was in such a dark mood that the younger boy didn't dare tease him and Izzie seemed to be lost in her mind, all possible conversation ended before it even started. Although, Allen did notice how frequently Izzie looked at Kanda and, remembering the night when they both kissed, wondered if the girl actually felt something for the Japanese musician.

His line of thought, as well as the others' ones, was interrupted by the approach of certain singer. Kanda stiffened in his seat and Allen just rejoiced with the show. It wasn't that often that he saw Kanda getting so…uncomfortable? Jealous? Could he possibly call it like that?

"Can I have this dance, my lady?" Tyki asked, offering theatrically his hand to Izzie.

"I don't dance" she declared and averted her eyes from his.

"But you can talk" Tyki added enigmatically and bended to murmur something to the girl in a low voice so the two other boys wouldn't hear "Haven't you asked yourself what's really happening in Atlanta? I can provide you some answers"

Izzie immediately stiffened too and frowned a bit, considering the implications of Tyki's words.

"Just one song" she contested and stood up.

Kanda growled in his place and gave Tyki a withering look which the Portuguese easily ignored.

Tyki guided Izzie to one of the corners of the dance floor and placed elegantly his hands in her waist.

"Here, sweetheart" he bit his lip in order not to laugh at Izzie's clear inexperience and gently positioned her arms around his neck.

"Tell me" Izzie demanded. She tried to keep her eyes locked past the shoulders of Tyki, sensing danger of falling half-hypnotized if she dared look into his golden irises. They swayed gently with the music, not exactly dancing, but just simulating it. The singer was the one who leaded all their movements and Izzie, without knowing what to do, just went with the flow.

It was hard to focus when the thumbs of her partner started tracing circles in her waist, but she endeavored to keep her mind in the issue at hand. She truly didn't want to dance with Tyki, there was something in him that just yelled 'danger' and she hadn't forgotten the night when she was nearly kidnapped by him, Jasdero and Debitto.

The only reason why she really had acceded to accompany the Portuguese was for the promise of information. She knew nothing about the situation her father was facing and what the news bulletins provided was just not enough. She needed to know what was happening, even when she refused to talk to her father.

Also, she knew that, while they were in a public place with dozens of policemen guarding the entrances and exits, there was no possibility that she could be taken against her will, so there was no risk at all in dancing with Tyki Mikk.

"Tell you what?" Tyki asked nonchalantly.

"You know what" she snapped back harshly. Her temper was growing shorter and the anxiety she was feeling didn't help to ease her mood.

"Geez, being with Kanda affects you, sweetie" the singer said. "Well, I am a man of my word, so I am going to tell you _some_ things. If you wanna know the rest, you are going to have dinner with me tomorrow"

"Spit it out" inwardly, she reprehended herself for using such a vulgar expression, nothing compared with the way many of her recent companions expressed, but she still wasn't used to talk that way.

"Your father is going through a political judgment" the Portuguese started "for cheating in the elections. The judge is Malcolm C. Leverrier"

Izzie wryly smiled. Leverrier was her father's friend, so there was no possible danger at hand. Or so she thought before Tyki continued his speech.

"He has betrayed your father, if you haven't noticed. He turned out to be on Sheryl's side -Even when that clearly benefit us, he doesn't stop being a motherfucker for that- and is planning to send your father to jail and deliver the mayoralty to Camelot"

Izzie gave a start and covered her mouth with one of her hands in amusement. That couldn't be true! Her father, in jail? No, no, she couldn't believe it, and the worst of all, was that she knew her father was guilty, he confessed it to her on the phone.

What was she thinking? That her father would go away without a punishment?

And Leverrier! Could it be truth that he had betrayed his friend, James Fletcher? But, why? What was he winning with such an action?

"Camelot has promised Leverrier a higher position if he helped him getting rid of Fletcher. However, there are also grave accusations against Sheryl, so the judgment had turned out to be, practically, about which of both candidates is less undeserving of the mayoralty"

So there was her answer. She still couldn't believe it, her hand was still covering her mouth and her eyes started stinging with fresh tears.

If her father went to jail, then, what would happen to her? She didn't want to go into some orphanage; it would be like if she had no parents. She had already lost her mother, she couldn't lose her father too, they couldn't send him to jail…

"How do I know you are not lying?" she hastily inquired, remembering for a moment that this was _Tyki Mikk_, not exactly the best person to trust at.

"The judgment started two days ago and nobody dared say anything, but by tonight, it should be in the news bulletins. You can watch them if you don't believe me" he shrugged and leaded Izzie and himself to one side of the dance floor, so none of the other dancers could hear or notice them.

They were silent for a while and Izzie returned her hand to Tyki's shoulder, the air going in and out slowly from her lungs. She had to be strong and she was definitely not going to cry in front of everybody, she may had time for that once she arrived home.

Home. She suddenly missed her house, her bedroom, her mattress, her father. Kanda's accommodations were comfortable, but his presence wasn't so, and there has been so much time since she last felt safe and happy.

"Leverrier had been planning this all along" she suddenly muttered, remembering the coldness with which the judge had treated Angel and her. Since the very beginning of the affair, the man hadn't communicated once neither gave signs of life.

Yes, Angel was right; he had been really busy, but trying to work for the two contenders under covered. And, perhaps, that was why he didn't seem really concerned about his adoptive daughter, because he could entreat Sheryl's forces and retire his help if the candidate's men dared touch Angel.

"Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if it was so" Tyki conceded "You should be aware also whenever you are around your friend" the man made a gesture in Lavi's and Angel's direction, where both were cheerfully dancing. "She is his daughter"

"Angel wouldn't betray me" Izzie firmly declared, but still, a twinge of fear and paranoia hit her chest. She had been disappointed by the person in whom she was supposed to trust the most, what was she supposed to expect from the other people?

"That's for you to consider"

"In any case, you are more dangerous than her" the girl defied him, annoyed by the notices the singer had gave her. But, sincerely, what was she expecting? A happy ending?

"Maybe, but I was hoping you may like danger" Tyki smirked at her in that way of his and trailed his fingers smoothly up and down Izzie's back, sending shivers along her spine.

"I don't" she hissed "Stop that"

"Stop what?" he asked innocently, fixating his eyes on her.

"_That!" _Izzie's anger was growing stronger, but her mind started feeling cloudy and overcastted.

"I'm afraid I don't understand you" he whispered in her ear and his lips met again the sensitive spot below it.

Izzie squirmed and tried to push him away, but he held her with more strength, one of his hands pressing her back against him and the other moving up and down the curve of her body.

"You said you'd give me information, and…" she had to talk; she needed to talk, so that she could keep focused in the matters at hand.

"I will tell you the rest tomorrow" Tyki interrupted her and she could feel his warm breath in her neck's skin.

"Let me go!"

"Get your fucking hands off her!"

Izzie felt someone pulling her back by the arm and she gladly let herself go with the stranger. A black shirt and a piece of long, dark hair appeared in her camp of view and an arm was crossed protectively between her body and Tyki's amused figure.

"There are kinder ways of asking a lady's hand, Kanda" he smiled.

There were some murmurs and even one or two camera flashes, and a small circle was formed around the small group.

"No if you are fucking _raping _her right in front of everyone!" Kanda hissed, annoyed with the unnecessary attention called. His voice was dangerously low with bad-contained anger.

"I didn't know you were so fond of her" Tyki teased, raising his eyebrows in feigned surprise. Behind him, Skinn Bolic's big figure escorted him, together with Jasdero and Debitto's smiley faces.

"Go to dammed hell, that's where you belong"

"Watch your mouth, pretty boy" Skinn Bolic's grave voice, which reminded Izzie of something rotting in the darkest spot of a cavern, threatened him.

"Watch your fucking playboy and go you all to _fucking hell_"

The Innocence's bassist darted him an assassin glare and stalked right back to his seat, ignoring Lavi, Angel, Komui and Lenalee's concerned faces who had approached them the moment of the aggravation. Without noticing it, he was dragging Izzie along with him, and the girl kept his pace without saying a word.

When they arrived to the table, where Allen was stood up ready to interfere, Kanda finally let go of Izzie, as if realizing he had been touching her, took his jacket and prepared to leave.

"Hey, where are you going?" she inquired, talking to him for the first time in what seemed months.

He didn't answer and started walking to the exit.

"Kanda!" Izzie reached him and held his elbow, but he merely released himself.

"Don't fucking touch me. This is your fault" he exclaimed, turning to face her, all his anger reflected in his blue eyes. He was handsome, terribly handsome, and observing him from such a close distance took Izzie's breath away a few seconds. However, the bassist's cruel words bursted the bubble of charm and arose indignity from her.

"My fault!" she steamed up "I never wanted him to do…well, to do that!"

"But you acceded to fucking dance with him!"

"I…I did… what I had to do" she hastily retorted, averting her eyes from him. She didn't want to give any explanation and she knew that if the matter of her father was mentioned, it'd be followed by a series of questions she didn't want to answer.

But, on the other side, Kanda wasn't the type of persons who would actually ask questions, at least not if he wasn't interested in the issue.

"What a lame excuse"

Kanda turned around again and made as if leaving but Izzie held his arm. However, this time he didn't stop and shook her away as if she was just a fly.

For some reason, this profoundly hurt Izzie and she yearned to follow him, but found no courage to do it. He seemed extremely offended and angry and she didn't think herself strong enough to put up with his bad temper and control the wave of emotions flowing in her.

* * *

"I don't think he is going to open the door" Izzie finally gave up and walked back to the limo, which was still waiting in front of Kanda's elegant flat.

She had been knocking for nearly fifteen minutes, hoping Kanda would let her in sooner or later, but the musician didn't gave signs of even noticing her. Izzie knew he was at home, because the smooth light of the living room's television was visible through the window.

"Oh, don't worry" Lavi said cheerfully, jumping out the vehicle and searching for something in his pockets. "Here" he approached the door and inserted the keys in the keyhole.

"Go, pretty" the redheaded smiled as he pushed the door.

"How…how…?" Izzie mumbled, pointing alternatively the keys and Lavi. What she really wanted to ask was how did it come that he had a copy of Kanda's keys and she, the one who was actually living in _his_ house, didn't?

"I got them a long time ago" Lavi winked, guessing her thought "How do you think I always get in when it is obvious everything he wants is to kick me out?"

"Oh, of course" the girl replied in a low voice "Thanks" she stepped into the house, barely hearing Lavi's farewell and closed the door behind her.

Why did it hurt so badly? They were just keys, and Lavi knew Kanda better than her. She tried to reason with herself and the only conclusion, terrible and painful conclusion that she obtained was that Kanda didn't trust her. Or that he didn't want to have her in his house.

This, together with his indifference at her calling at the door, pained deep in her heart.

The lights were all off and she walked hesitantly into the living room, where she saw Kanda sprawled in the big couch, one of his arms relying on the back of the seat. He had taken off his jacket and the first buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing his perfectly well-built chest.

Izzie stared at him for what seemed an eternity, appreciating how the light of the television reflected in his blue irises, and with an unknown, heavy weight pressing her heart. It seemed that the more she saw him, the more aloof he appeared to be. Totally out of her reach, like if they were from distant worlds and the abysm that separated they could never be crossed.

Nobody talked and Kanda seemed perfectly indifferent to her presence, acting as if she wasn't really there.

The feelings that Izzie had been trying to conceal from time ago finally arose:

Disappointment, hopelessness, frustration, and betrayal from her father's business.

Loneliness, solitude, the way she always felt like if she didn't fit in this new rock atmosphere.

Sadness and melancholy when she realized that the next day was the anniversary of her mother's dead.

And Kanda's nonchalant behavior, always blaming her, accentuating the feeling that she couldn't do anything right, that she was a good-for-nothing, that he wished she wasn't there, invading his home.

For some reason, the last one seemed to be the worst, the spark that detonated the bomb. She felt like if something cracked inside her, just where her heart was supposed to be.

Finally, and against her own will, she burst into tears. Izzie covered her mouth to drown her sobs and hiccups, but they were still so loud that Kanda turned around to face the crying girl.

"What the…?" he half rose from his seat, staring at her trembling figure.

Izzie just stared back at him with red eyes and bright tears streaming down her face, shining with the bluish light of the television.

"Izzie?" Kanda called doubtfully. His voice pronouncing her name. When did he last do that? She just shook her head and ran to her room, leaving the bassist alone and confused.

The girl fell on her bed and buried her face in the pillows, blaming herself for being so weak and so stupid. Dancing with Tyki Mikk! She felt sick when she remembered the way he had touched her; sick and dirty. That new sensation added to the previous ones and she couldn't do anything but cry until she fell asleep.

* * *

Kanda stayed in the same position –one leg still over the couch and the other on the floor- confused by Izzie's reaction.

He had heard her calling at the door, naturally, but his anger didn't allow him to stand up and open. 'If she wants someplace to sleep, she better go with the jerk of Tyki Mikk' was his thought in that moment.

However, watching her so weak, so vulnerable and so…so….hurt, yeah, he could see sorrow through her violet eyes; drained all the fury out of his body and only left him with a sensation of…guilt? He couldn't feel guilty; it wasn't his fault that the girl decided to dance with that asshole! What was more, he was good enough to go and save her from his lusty hands. She should have thanked him!

He wasn't guilty, but, then again, what was that pressure in his chest that urged him to go and see her? He was not even good dealing with tears.

"Bullshit" he thought and turned the television off, no more interested in what he was watching.

He was not apologizing, it wasn't his fault.

* * *

A/N: I know this is so so so fast, but I had to just update! Thank you for your reviews, they really encourage me a lot! Team Kanda is winning by unanimous decision, that's great! And if you want something to be added to this story, some idea or something that you would like seeing our principal characters doing, just LEAVE A REVIEW telling me it! Also, if you have one song that you'd like me to use, feel free to let me know and I'd try to adaptate it to the plot. I can't make any promise, though, since sometimes I just can't find where to fit some melody or situation, but I'll do my best! :D

Well, making this guys fall in love is really really hard, they are both so stubborn, especially Kanda! I think it is gonna take a few more chapters and some help from Lavi and Angel to make them realize what they feel, or, in Kanda's case, making him feel something at all. However, there's no denying that he is definetely falling ;)

Next chapter is already written, but I won't update if you don't CLICK THAT BUTTON AND LEAVE A REVIEW! *Glare*

Thanks for following my DGM fantasies up to here! You are awesome!

The song used here is Can't take my eyes off of you, Muse's version.


	19. Chapter 19 Broken and Neutral

_Innocence Rock Time _

_(GO TEAM KANDA!)_

* * *

Perhaps the only thing he liked about Izzie was that she was silent.

She wasn't like the Moyashi, always provoking him; or Lavi, making a big fuss about everything and his new 'girlfriend' who always followed him in everything.

He found Lenalee tolerable most of the time because she knew when to shut up, but sometimes the cheerful temper of the singer really got on his nerves, and having her brother complaining about everything they did to her wasn't helpful.

So, from everyone he had ever met, Izzie was the one he could put up with the most.

She was serious and tranquil, didn't make noise if it wasn't necessary and, what was more important: didn't disturb him in his activities.

He had a tight schedule. Every morning, he'd wake up early to prepare breakfast, have a cup of tea and then he would go to train in the backyard with Mugen.

Then, he'd take a shower and shut himself in the 'music room' to practice with any instrument he pleased. This activity, before Izzie's intrusion in his life, was usually postponed for after the meal, because he had to prepare it and then do some cleaning in the house. But, since now the girl prepared the food and helped with some of the housework, he found himself with more time for leisure than what he was used to have.

The evenings were usually spent, unwillingly, with the other members of the band. They usually went out someplace, but, under Komui's instructions, most of their time was now spent at the bassist's house.

This was unless they had some photograph session, local concert, interview, recording work or video-making, which was pretty improbable at the moment because they were about to write new songs for another album.

However, that day started differently. Izzie didn't show up for breakfast, even when he waited for her ten more minutes than usual, which, to begin with, was pretty weird coming from someone like _him_, who didn't like to wait.

There was a strange feeling inside his chest. He wondered why she hadn't appeared. Was she still asleep? Was she depressed? Did she fell sick? All those questions crowded in his mind for some minutes before he concluded it was none of his business.

If the girl didn't want to come out, it was probable because she didn't want to see him. He wasn't exactly _polite _or _amiable_ last night, even when he was right about everything. Stubborn, arrogant creature Izzie resulted to be.

He stood up and covered her pancakes with a plate so they wouldn't get cold with strange cordiality, but left his dishes on the sink. It was her turn to do them and he was being more kind than what he ought to be, so he gotta have a little, really tiny, revenge.

Kanda headed for the back door of the house and stopped a while in front of Izzie's door.

Was he…worried? He felt some anxiety and the need to knock; the need to know if she was all right. The image of the girl crying still reverberated behind his eyes. It was an awful sensation to recall that moment, so he just shook his head, trying to take it out of his mind.

'Probably she lost something again, or the dammed goblins hid her things' he convinced himself. Izzie had the horrible habit of getting everything lost, which was so common that Kanda started thinking it was on purpose.

"_Stupid goblins, they hide everything!"_ he had heard her exclaim one day while looking under the sofa for God knew what.

That, with her extremely refined manners, way of dressing and attitude of princess in general, had gained her the nickname of _Goblin Hime_, which was far from a compliment.

Before he decided to keep walking and stop worrying about things that weren't his business, a ringtone sounded from the inside of the girl's room.

He paid attention to the voice that answered the phone, which seemed somehow broken.

"Alo'?"

There was a short silence that Kanda interpreted as the answer of the interlocutor.

"I am fine, Angel, thanks" Izzie responded but Kanda didn't believe it from the tone of her voice.

Another silence.

"I know" she said "No, no, is okay. Just, stay there… Yeah, I was about to…Don't worry! Is okay...Yes, thanks. See you"

Kanda guessed the conversation was over, because no more sound was heard. He felt as if knocking, but, then again, remembered it was not his business and he had better things to do. Damn, why was he so badly worried? Why he was even worried at all?

He continued his way naturally, took his shirt off and was about to grab Mugen when his cell phone started vibrating in his pants. He grunted and picked it, scowling even deeper when he saw the name on the screen.

"What?" the bassist harshly answered.

"Hey, there, Yuu" A happy, too dammed happy voice greeted him. "How are ya' doin'?"

"Who fucking cares? What do you want?"

"Oww, you are in a bad mood! Yuu is angry, Yuu is angry" Lavi sang from the other side of the line, and Kanda thought of many torture methods which he could possibly use. Too bad they were illegal.

"Tell me what the fuck you want or I am gonna hang up this mo…"

"Okay, okay" the male singer interrupted him and, turning immediately serious, said: "I just…well, Angel just wanted to ask you a favor"

Kanda heard a distant 'Hey!' from the mentioned girl, but didn't pay attention. He growled and waited for the rabbit to keep talking.

"Just…well, she just wanted to ask you to…take care of Izzie-chan. It seems today is not exactly a nice day for her and she may be quite depressed…"

"And who the fuck cares? She doesn't even wanna see me" he answered, surprised by the resentment of his own voice.

"Just be around her, don't let her do something stupid"

"Like if she is gonna cut her veins or some fucking stupidity. If you are so concern, then just take her out with you"

"We are at Panda's right now and the old man took my car" Lavi tried to explain "And his is not working so, amm..."

"Then ask the moyashi, I am not a babysitter"

"Come on, Yuu! Don't be so grumpy! Just try to be a nice knight and take care of your _princess_"

"Go to fucking hell"

"But you said that yourself!"

"Not in that sense"

"And in which sense, then?" The redheaded added enigmatically and Kanda could almost see his mischievous grin.

"I don't have to give an explanation to you. Go and piss off someone else" Kanda shut the phone before Lavi could answer and proceeded to train.

* * *

Izzie didn't feel like eating. Her stomach loudly complained, but she couldn't take herself to the kitchen.

She left the phone on the side-table and stared at the ceiling.

Six years. Six years ago.

The screams, the blinding lights, the unbearable screech of metal against metal, all of that remained fresh in her mind as if she was contemplating the disaster in that moment.

They –her father, mother and she- were travelling in the Madrid's subway when it crashed with another train. The velocities were so high that it was, by no means, nearly expected and everything passed in matter of seconds.

She was only ten, about to turn eleven, just a girl.

And the blood. The blood dripping on her lap. The moment she lifted her eyes and saw… her mother…

Izzie shivered and sat up, burying her face in her hands. The memories were just so overwhelming, the sensations so strong…

And her actual situation, about to lose her father too… if she only had her mother with her, sweet, sweet Rebecca Fletcher, the best woman she had ever known.

Even when six years had already passed, Izzie still felt the emptiness of her mother's sudden leaving deep in her soul. She wasn't over it yet and all the melancholy and loneliness hit her harder the day of the anniversary.

The 11th of August. So unforgettable, so painful…

At recalling the early afternoons of her life learning to play the piano with her mother, Izzie felt the sudden need of playing again. It was the closest thing to hearing Rebecca's voice and, somehow, it made the daughter transport back to the golden era of their happy lives together.

And it had another meaning this year: it would be like going back home, feeling welcomed again.

She knew there was a piano in Kanda's music room and she didn't care if she wasn't allowed to play it. Pain converted everything in an action-reaction matter and anything that'd help making it disappear was pretty welcome.

So the girl walked out of her room and approached to the instrument with quiet steps.

The music room was nothing but a big salon with just one window and walls covered with some posters or hanging instruments. The furniture consisted, basically, in a dozen of basses, half a dozen of guitars, a drum kit, two keyboards and one big piano. She approached the last instrument, lifted the lid and caressed sweetly the keys before pressing one.

The high, clean note resounded in the walls and she looked at the door, expecting someone to enter, but nobody appeared.

More confident, she decided to sit down and started playing a sweet melody, hesitating at some notes and making slight mistakes until she finally got it right. Raising her voice, she started singing along, not caring if she was tuned or not.

_A la nanita nana, nanita ea, nanita ea, *(Traduction in the A/N)  
mi niña tiene sueño, bendita sea,  
bendito sea._

_Fuentecilla que corres clara y sonora_  
_ruiseñor en la selva cantando lloras_  
_callad mientras la cuna se balancea_  
_a la nanita nana, nanita ea._

_A la nanita nana, nanita ea, nanita ea,_  
_mi niña tiene sueño, bendita sea,_  
_bendito sea._

She continued singing along, swaying slightly with the music, rejoicing with the memories, living a moment in the past. Her cheeks felt humid, but she didn't care. So absorbed she was with her music that she didn't hear the footsteps approaching to her.

_Manojito de rosas y de alelíes  
¿qué es lo que estás soñando que te sonríes?  
Cuáles son tus sueños, dilo alma mía, mas  
¿qué es lo que murmuras? Eucaristía._

_A la nanita nana, nanita ea, nanita ea,_  
_mi niña tiene sueño, bendita sea,_  
_bendito sea._

_Pajaritos y fuentes, auras y brisas_  
_respetad ese sueño y esas sonrisas_  
_callad mientras la cuna se balancea_  
_que la niña está soñando, bendita sea._

_A la nanita nana, nanita ea, nanita ea,_  
_mi niña tiene sueño, bendita sea,_  
_bendita sea._

Izzie noticed the man's presence because of the shadow that darkened the keys in front of her.

When her finger finally released the last note, she just talked without thinking, just let herself go with the flow of her own reckless and instincts.

"It is a lullaby" she explained "My mother used to sing it to me when I was a kid"

There was no reply and that hurt her, however, she kept on talking while fixating her eyes in a sheet of music placed over the piano. She started playing it.

"I danced yesterday with Tyki Mikk because he offered me explanations" said she "information about my father"

Again, he didn't open his lips and his indifference crossed her heart like a dagger. She, the girl who actually never talked about her feelings, was exposing all of them to him and he just didn't care!

Izzie, frustrated, focused instead in the music, playing the strange melody perfectly, avoiding any mistakes, completely concentrated in it, expelling any other thoughts that could rush her mind.

Suddenly, she felt someone sitting beside her and saw Kanda's long hair with the corner of her eye. He was shirtless and the girl couldn't avoid admiring for a while the perfection of his torso, shining with morning sweat. His face was empty of all expression while he analyzed the rapid movements of her fingers until the song finished and she had no more notes to play.

"It needs lyrics" Kanda finally said nonchalantly.

"I think it is okay like that" she replied with great coldness. Her shoulder were stiff and she wished so badly that the tears of before had left no marks in her face. She hated showing weakness, and still regretted last night's break down.

The bassist denied with his head and insisted in the necessity of lyrics. Exasperated but also wishing to take all her bad emotions away, she easily thought of a series of words and played the chords of the first chorus, replacing the melody with her own, hesitant voice.

_Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome  
And I don't feel right when you're gone away_

_You've gone away, you don't feel me here, anymore_

Then, in a burst of inspiration, she travelled to the second chorus, adding another sentence to the previous lyrics, making them fit perfectly after three attempts and little modifications.

_Cause I'm broken when I'm open  
And I don't feel like I am strong enough  
Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome  
And I don't feel right when you're gone away_

She played it automatically again and again, increasing the intensity and feeling each time she repeated it, letting off the steam wrapping inside her. Trying to take it all away, trying to heal her broken heart with the music, trying to return to another time, trying to hide from her own sorrow behind the screen of notes.

Kanda had his eyes fixated on her, astonished with the way she so easily got lyrics for one song he had been working on for days. There was something, some special spark in her eyes that he never noticed before and now, under closer inspection, he considered her to be really attractive. Even when he noticed some failures in the symmetry of her features, he couldn't deny she was _pretty_. How wasn't he able to see that before? He didn't know, but there was something in this girl that just _called_ him.

And, when the tears started streaming down her face, he felt wretched too. He tried to explain that sensation to himself without entering in other paths –name them love- and justified this empathy with the fact that he considered her a _good_ _human being _which didn't deserve any kind of suffering.

However, this excuse still fell so lame.

Before he noticed it, or even had time to stand up and leave, assuming that she wanted to be alone, the girl hooked her arms around his waist and hid her face in his bare shoulder, crying bitterly.

Kanda remained still, not sure how to act. He wasn't the kind of person who hugged back people, he didn't even like so _intimate _contact but, with her, it wasn't that annoying. He perceived a slight wood scent coming from her hair, not too sweet neither too bitter, as if guessing Kanda's preferences.

He, like Izzie's scent, remained neutral: neither hugging her back, nor pushing her away, just waited patiently until her distress had passed.

* * *

A/N: Well, as I said, this chapter was already written and I couldn't wait to update! However, I still..hump, don't like it quite much...is it too cheesy? Am I making Izzie too girly? I mean, she is strong, a strong a mature girl which always tends to hide what she feels until it all explodes, what had just happenned. Originally, she is of course not this vulnerable.

GO TEAM KANDA! This guy is too stubborn, and I am afraid I am making him too OOC... if you don't like it, let me know so I can make some modifications.

By the way, the votation about Team Kanda or Team Tyki is not about with whom Izzie should be partnered, since the answer is pretty obvious (Kanda!) but well, it is just to know what do you think about Izzie and Tyki having an affair or if I should turn this into a KandaxOCXTyki ff. But since Team Kanda is clearly winning, I think there'll be no need of it ;)

Please, tell me what you think about this chapter! I hate it, but your opinion is really helpful!

Next update may take a little longer, I am in the middle of a writer's block. Especially because, according to the months in which the story is set, is almost time to go back to school, and I am thinking of sending them all to a private school, but I am afraid it'd be too cliché.

So, tell me, should I send them to school or just pretend that education is not necessary and keep it up like this? **PLEASE, GIVE ME YOUR OPINION! **

Songs in here: A la nanita nana- Colombian typicall Christmas Carol, also used as a lullaby and Broken-Seether ft. Amy Lee

_Traduction: _

A la nanita nana, nanita ea, nanita ea

My girl is sleepy, blessed she be

Blessed she be

Fountain which runs clear and sonorous

Nightingale that in the forest singing cries

Shut up while the cradle rocks

A la nanita nana, nanita ea

A la nanita nana, nanita ea, nanita ea

My girl is sleepy, blessed she be

Blessed she be

Little bunches of roses and wallflowers

What's what you're dreaming that you smile?

Which are your dreams? Tell them, soul of mine, more

What's what you whisper? Eucharist

A la nanita nana, nanita ea, nanita ea

My girl is sleepy, blessed she be

Blessed she be

Birds and fountains, auras and breezes

Respect this sleep and this laughs

Shut up while the cradle rocks

That the girl is dreaming, blessed she be

A la nanita nana, nanita ea, nanita ea

My girl is sleepy, blessed she be

Blessed she be


	20. Chapter 20 Plans and deliberations

_Innocence Rock Time_

"_The crisis in Atlanta doesn't seem to have some close ending" _a woman in the television explained through her microphone _"The judgment is taking longer than expected and Sheryl Camelot and James Fletcher are both in great danger of going to jail for money laundering and alliances with the mafia for the former, although this accusations are still unconfirmed; and for election fraud for Fletcher" _

Izzie was watching the television with great interest, seated in the border of the sofa and with her violet eyes lingered to the screen.

Kanda recognized the host of the program. It was a blonde, annoying, arrogant woman in her late twenties who some months ago interviewed the band. The bassist wondered why that stupid, empty-headed woman was talking about politics when her specialty was the showbiz, and, for his own stress, the answer soon came.

A video of a brunette man in a suit avoiding the reporters and running to a Mercedes, who Kanda guessed was Izzie's father for the way the girl's shoulders stiffened, was suddenly replaced by a video of six nights ago, recorded in an elegant ballroom where several couples were dancing. The tape was frozen and a big, red arrow pointed to one corner, where there were a man and a girl in a pink dress dancing together.

"_And, when a father's integrity and public image is endangered, what does a good daughter do? Obviously, and as Izzobel Fletcher can answer us, dancing with the greatest musicians of the moment is the best option" _the high-pitched, malicious voice of the host said with a feigned horrified tone.

"_And not only dancing, but also provoking quarrels between them" _the video tape changed to the part where Kanda pulled Izzie away from Tyki and placed himself between them both.

"_But her inseparable companion, Angela Leverrier, doesn't stay behind" _the images changed to reveal a video of Angel and Lavi dancing together in a far corner of the dance floor, heartily laughing and tracing elegant circles with their bodies. "_Is there a romance between the so famous Lavi Bookman, named one of the sexiest singers of the moment by Cosmopolitan Magazine, and Judge Leverrier's insignificant daughter? I gotta say that, compared to other bands' __sluts __, Leverrier and Flercher are not even pretty nor…"_

"Stop watching that bullshit" Kanda approached the big television with long strides and turned it off.

"They were talking about my father!" Izzie hastily replied, but didn't attempt to turn on the t.v. again.

"They were not talking about your father and you know it. Let's eat" the bassist walked to the kitchen's door and Izzie reluctantly followed him.

Within the last five days, after Izzie's emotional crisis, the relationship of the two roommates had surprisingly improved. They talked more to each other of casual topics and not only when strictly necessary, most of the conversation carried by Izzie.

Also, the girl waited for Kanda to start eating, unlikely to the previous days, when the musician used to find her already finishing her lunch just when he was entering the kitchen. The same happened with the dinner, when they were alone, but the other way around: he waited for her.

These little details, insignificant as they were, made her feel more eased and welcomed, and she moved with more confidence in the house. The girl didn't remain any longer in her room, but wandered around the place, watched television in the living-room, played the piano or just seated in the porch to read and write. However, their mutual respect of each other's personal space remained the same.

That day, the familiar smell of soba reached Kanda's nose. Izzie went ahead and discovered the recipient where the stew was before serving it in soup dishes and placing the lunch over the table, at where the bassist was already sat.

"Angel told me once this was your favorite food" Izzie inquired shyly. "And I found the recipe in one of the drawers"

Kanda was silent for a moment, focused in tasting the long straps.

"It is too salty" he concluded and couldn't help to smirk at Izzie's scowl.

"I made my best" she excused herself. "What are you laughing at?" the girl had lifted her eyes and met Kanda's handsome face smirking at her. That really got her head over heels, even when she didn't want to admit it. His deep blue eyes shone in a way so hypnotizing, but not like Tyki's, these were more…more…well, they made her feel _safety_. She cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"None of your business" he shrugged and took another bite of soba. His hair was falling untied over his shoulders, dripping fresh water over his bare back and framing his oriental features perfectly. He had just bathed after an hour of exercise in the yard and even when Izzie didn't approve men wandering shirtless around a house when _she_ was present, Kanda's nude torso wasn't a bad view after all.

"I think the soba tastes good" the girl stubbornly said, still offended by the critics to her food, even when it was true: the soba was salty.

"Liar"

"Dumb"

"Is that your best insult?" he arched an eyebrow.

"Go to hell" she replied, pushing her brain to the limit to find an insult without pronouncing any really bad word.

"Lame"

"Shut up"

They remained in a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes, without forcing any conversation.

Izzie looked back and then at her companion, her eyes moving with self willingness, not really thinking about what she was doing. It was just that the view of him eating shirtless in front of her was…unbelievable, breath-taking…

"_What am I thinking? This is stupid, he is…well, he is Kanda. Nothing wonderful_" she thought for herself, cutting the previous line of flatters, but even that sounded like a flat _lie._

In one of the girl's short inspections, she noticed again –she had seen it before- the tattoo painted in his left pectoral.

"What's that?" she asked.

"What?"

The girl pointed sheepishly at Kanda's chest and he guessed the meaning without even having to look down at it.

"A tattoo"

"Obviously" Izzie rolled her eyes. Why was he so headstrong and stupid sometimes? "But…why? What does it mean?"

"I just wanted it" he said nonchalantly, and that answer seemed to get over Izzie's nerves.

Just when he was starting to think her sensitive and of a weak temper, after the two times he had watched her cry, the girl gave a turn of one hundred eighty degrees and returned to the character with which he had known her from the beginning: serious and cold, but also gaining enough confidence as the days passed as to speak her mind.

"You are so enigmatic" she exclaimed, annoyed.

Kanda heavily sighed. "It's just a tattoo. I saw it, I liked it. End of the story"

She bluffed and didn't touch the topic again and Kanda smirked at her bad humor. It reminded him of a puppy or kitten, not because of cute –God dammed it if he thought something cute- but because she was danger-less no matter how grave her threatens were or how deep she scowled.

"Why did you prepare soba?" Kanda inquired after a short silence "I told you never attempt to kiss me again, and that includes trying to flatter me, seduce me, growing in my esteem or _making me fall_, as if that was even possible" he snorted disdainfully.

Izzie stared at him with astonishment. What was he saying? Was he insinuating that she exerted herself to prepare dammed soba to seduce him? The truth is that she had only done it in a grateful motion for all his support –forced, she guessed- during difficult days, just trying to be a nice roommate. Nothing else intended. Absolutely nothing.

"Don't think yourself that important" she spitted bitterly.

"Then why are you blushing?" Kanda mocked.

"I am not blushing" but, damn! She could feel her cheeks growing hotter.

"I am out of your reach, woman, accept it" the bassist stood up and turned the faucet of the sink, letting the water splash over his empty plates.

"You are not my type, anyway" she commented nonchalantly and stood up "and you should wear a shirt, by the way"

"Why? Am I making you uncomfortable?" Kanda looked at her with smugness, the corner of his lips curved in half a seductive smirk.

"It's disgusting" she responded and tossed her dishes into the sink. Then stalked away, trying to avoid his eyes so he couldn't tell how embarrassed she felt and left Kanda alone in the kitchen, smirking.

* * *

"…_not even pretty nor important in the showbiz. So we wonder what kind of dirty tricks they might have used to conquer these three very sexy men: Kanda, Lavi and Tyki." _The blonde woman kept on talking to the camera, exaggerating her expressions to denote pure horror and astonishment.

Angel felt like throwing up and a thousand of ideas and doubts installed in her mind.

"_We also wonder what are Mr. Leverrier and Mr. Fletcher going to do with their disobedient and rebel girls, but they may have too many problems to deal with in these moments. Poor parents, they cannot even count with the support of their, as long as it is known, only relatives"_

The girl felt angry and annoyed with herself. The woman in the screen was right: her adoptive father, the only human being that had been taking care of her was in problems and the only thing she had been doing up to that moment was travelling, singing, flirting and, basically, enjoying the life that she always wanted to have. Wasn't that selfish and repugnant?

With tears threatening to stream down her face, she stood up and started packing all her things, cursing under her breath to herself and making a lot of noise while she retired the clothes from the closet and packed all her makeup set.

"Angel? Is everything alright inside there?" Allen's voice asked from the other side of her locked room's door.

There was no answer, only that worrying scandal coming from the inside.

"_And where are these girls living? Evidently, not in their houses" _the woman in tv kept saying _"Witnesses affirm to have seen the Fletcher girl coming out from the private residence of Kanda Yuu" _a rapid photo of Kanda's home façade was displayed for some seconds, while the annoying host kept talking. _"But, perhaps she is not the one who's misbehaving the most, because, whilst she had been seen entering only one musician's house, Angel Leverrier decided to alternate her time between Lavi Bookman's and _Allen Walker's places. _Which kind of decent, well-educated girl would do this? Poor Leverrier must be suffering a lot with her adoptive child's behavior"_

This made Angel finally burst into tears. It was true, everything was true. What kind of girl was she? What kind of gratitude was that that she was giving to her protector?

"Angel, I am coming…" the doorknob started turning, but Allen's action and sentence were interrupted by a noisy 'thump' and the voice of certain singer.

"MOOOYAAAASHIIIII!"

"Bloody hell, Lavi! Don't do that! You scared the cra…"

"Not bad words, Allen, those doesn't suit you" the redheaded happily said. "Where are you? Oh, there you go! About to enter Angel-chan's room, huh?" the steps of the singer grew louder as he approached the door. Allen and he exchanged some words that Angel didn't understand, neither cared in understanding, focused instead in tossing all her belongings to the suitcase she had recently bought.

The door swung open and a red head peered inside. Upon seeing her crying and hearing the girl's low sobs, Lavi hurried inside.

"Angel? What are you doing?" he asked, gazing at the things accommodated in any way inside the girl's suitcase.

"Leaving!" she declared aloud and bit her lip, trying to drown the hiccups and sobs.

"WHAT?" Lavi exclaimed alarmed, together with Allen, who was standing in the doorway.

"Yeah, yeah, I am leaving right now because I have been a bad daughter and my father needs me and I am the most ungrateful person in the entire world and he is going to have problems and I am not doing anything right, the world thinks I am slut and maybe I am because I am a horrible person and…" she stopped to catch her breath and continued her string, but Lavi caught her by the wrists before she could take another pair of shorts off a hanger.

"-and I am the worst human being and…" she went on, but the redheaded interrupted.

"Hey, hey, calm down, is okay. Come on, sit" he guided the young girl to the foot of the bed, the only space free, and forced her to sit.

"What were you saying?" he softly asked, wiping some of Angel's tears away.

"That I don't deserve being here and my dad is having a lot of trouble and everything I am doing is being an ungrateful and horrible person staying here having fun instead of helping and…"

"Okay, that's alright" Lavi cut her off "Where the hell did you get that from?"

The girl pointed to the television, where the trailer of a new movie was displayed.

"The television? Those are just advertisements…" Lavi frowned, confused.

"The woman…the…she said…they know we….she said that Izzie and I were some random band sluts and didn't worried about our fathers, that we were bad girls and…" in that moment the blond host appeared again in screen, a microphone pressed against her red lips while she introduced a new guest to her program.

"Oh, she…" Lavi frowned even deeper, a spark of comprehension shining in his only eye.

"Isn't that the woman who invented that Kanda and you were having an affair after our interview?" Allen commented, staring at the screen with attention.

"Yes…" the singer confirmed. "Listen, Angel, she is…well, everything she says is bullshit and lies. Don't pay attention…"

"But she said the truth! That there was a judgment and that our parents needed us and that we were just travelling around and having fun and…"

"But because they _asked _you to do it. They ordered and agreed with this, they even sent money!" Allen replied.

"Izzie's father did, mine…"

"Yours is with Mr. Fletcher and must be aware of the situation. If he hadn't told you to go back, is because he is okay with this" Lavi reasoned out and smiled encouragingly to her. "Come on, don't listen to her, she is just jealous that you are hanging around with the sexiest creature in the world: me" the redheaded grinned and squeezed the girl against his chest, his serious moment already gone.

Angel let out something between a laugh and a sob and hugged Lavi back with strength.

"Oi, that hurts" he complained.

"But maybe if I go back…" she trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"No, don't go" Lavi requested, his voice oozing some kind of weird emotion. "Please" the boy separated her from him and looked directly into the girl's big brown eyes, holding her by the shoulders. "You don't have to go. You must not go. Remember Izzie-chan and you are in danger" he explained, but that didn't feel like the whole reason of why he was starting to look so anxious and affected.

"Izzie is basically the one who…"

"Stay with me" he abruptly said, fixating intently his eyes on hers.

Something twisted inside Angel's stomach when she caught his intense gaze and some warmness never before felt spread across her chest.

They stared into each other's eyes for what seemed an eternity until Lavi suddenly cleared his throat and stood up. "So, we have to tidy this, right?" he inquired with a smile, his happiness slightly perturbed by something deeper that none of them wanted to talk about.

"But guess it should be done later, we have to join the group in the headquarters" he said.

"Yep, just leave it like that, Angel" Allen finally dared to spoke, perplexed but grinning by the scene he had just admired. It wasn't common to see Lavi getting that nervous or, in general, being in any other emotion beside happiness and glee.

The girl nodded and turned the television off.

* * *

"Well, Izzie, so what is your diagnosis? Is Kanda gay or not?" Allen smirked mischievously at the couple that had just gotten out of the black Aston Martin.

"What?" Izzie asked with a bewildered expression.

"You know, living with him, you should have observed…"

"Just shut the fuck up, Moyashi"

"See? He is afraid that we could actually discover his secret" Allen winked happily at Izzie, but the girl just shrugged, not wanting to get into their personal argues.

"Oh, come on, don't be so serious, Izzie-chan!" Lavi padded her back happily, grinning at her. "Unless you have just confirmed that he is straight and you both have already made up…"

"Wha…what? Of course not, but, well, I am sure he is not….gay or something like that…" Izzie felt grateful that the parking lot was settled underground and the darkness prevented everyone from watching the blood rising up to her cheeks. She wondered why that happened every time some insinuation about her liking Kanda was made, and the answer resounded someplace far in her mind, the only answer she was still endeavoring to ignore, so the girl just shook her head and focused in her surroundings, just to encounter Kanda's lips smirking at her.

"What?" she acidly hissed, but the oriental boy had already turned away.

"Did you say something?" Lenalee asked to her, the only one close enough to overhear Izzie's exclamation to Kanda.

"Amm, no, nothing" the girl replied, visibly uncomfortable.

"mmm alright" obviously, the female singer didn't believe her words, but had sense enough for not asking.

They took an elevator which placed them in the first floor of the big building. The walls were covered with posters of the different bands the Black Order Music Corporation was sponsoring. A set of doors with the signs of Recording room number 1, 2, 3…until number 12 were lined along the corridor they were walking in.

Finally, they reached what Izzie supposed was the principal entrance, since a concurred street was observed through a pair of big glass doors.

They approached the receptionist who was typing something furiously in her laptop behind a marbled counter and Komui announced their arrival.

"Are you okay, Angel?" Izzie had noticed Angel's strange quietness and started to worry. It wasn't common that the girl hadn't made any exclamation or talked at all during all their trajectory.

"Do you think we have been…ungrateful and thoughtless towards our fathers? Because, you know, they are in a hard position right now and everything we have been doing is…"

"You saw that silly program this morning?" the raven girl interrupted her friend's speech, conscious that she would have continued forever.

Angel seemed perplexed, but nodded.

"That's a bunch of trash. That woman doesn't know anything about us and our situation, so don't listen to her" Izzie advised. The first time she had heard the blonde host rant against them, she had felt slightly bad, but after a lot of reflection and thought, she concluded that what everyone else said didn't matter, as long as they were okay and following their progenitor's orders. She communicated this to her friend and relaxed when she saw her distress pass.

Sometimes Angel was so easily influenced…

"Thanks" she said and their conversation was interrupted by the appearance of a young, disheveled, blonde man. He greeted everyone with great cordiality and introduced himself as Wenham Reever.

"So you are the girls that travel with our best band" the man smirked at Angel and Izzie.

"Yes, sir" the both girls answered.

"Just Reever, well, we have a lot of work to do. Follow me, please." the man made them a sign to go with him and the crew walked through a bunch of corridors and between dozens of doors.

"These are the offices, girls" Lavi explained happily to the two foreigners, lingering behind with them. "The real fun is within the superior floors, you know, music rooms, some dormitories, personal spaces for each band or singer, a cafeteria. You gotta see our place up there, is fantastic" the redheaded passed an arm around Angel's shoulders absentmindedly and accompanied them in their way, talking and describing places that Izzie wasn't pretty interested in, so she just pretended to hear while her mind was somewhere else –specifically, some steps ahead and a long-haired man-

Reever stopped and opened a door that prayed: Wenham Reever: Music Supervisor.

The office was wide, an entire wall covered with plasma televisions showing different music videos, reports and even some realities shows, with the sounds muted.

There was a big cedar desk in the middle of the room with two laptops and a desk computer turned on, filling the air with a buzz amplified by the different music equipments placed behind Reever's chair.

"Well, I have two news: a bad one and a good one" the supervisor said as he took his place behind the desk. Komui and Lenalee sat down in the two available chairs in front of Reever while Izzie and Angel took possession of one loveseat opposite to the televisions.

"Drop them" Lavi requested, sitting in the armchair next to Angel.

"Alright, first, the good news" Reever's serious countenance brightened with a smile. "After the private concert in Hilton and a lot of deliberations, the critics decided that…oh, well, in conclusion…you are nominated for the Best Album's Grammy"

Lenalee gave a start and covered her mouth, her eyes filling with fresh tears of joy.

"I KNEW IT!" Allen jumped and hugged the closest thing…which was Kanda.

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" the bassist roared, pushing Allen away from him.

"WE ARE NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY!" Lavi joined the awkward hug and he and Allen squeezed Kanda between their bodies. They started jumping together, dragging Kanda in their physical celebration.

"GRAMMY GRAMMY GRAMMY" the only two joyful males sang, repeating the word with each jump they gave.

"BLOODY HELL, GET YOUR DIRTY FUCKING ASSES AWAY FROM ME!" Kanda complained aloud, making his baritone voice hear over the cacophony his companions were making.

"You are enjoying this, Yuu, don't deny it" Lavi laughed and kissed the said man in the cheek, making the action sound louder than necessary.

"WHAT THE….DAMMED FAGGOT! YOU ARE SO FUCKING DEAD!" Kanda finally got rid of Allen's embrace, pushing the boy in a violent motion, and reached for Lavi's neck.

He crashed the redheaded body against the closest wall and tightened his grip around his throat.

* * *

"Now, the bad news" Reever continued his speech after they saved Lavi from dying in his friend's hands... again.

Everybody paid attention to the supervisor. His countenance had darkened a bit and he directed his gaze to the two girls sitting in the loveseat, but he talked to the band in general.

"Your good intentions had turned out to be detrimental to your reputation. Innocence has always been renowned and praised because of its lack of scandals, keeping a good moral image. But after the series of photos took in the Hilton and the paparazzi's shots of the girls leaving Kanda, Walker and Bookman's houses had raised a scandalized reaction" he looked grave and scanned the presents, gazing back and then to the girls implied.

"We don't care what they think at all. We know that's not true" Allen declared in a firm voice.

"Yeah, and we know also, and that's what the secretaries say every time some reporter or journalist call inquiring after the issue, but you know people always tend to build up their own conclusions and this can seriously affect Innocence's acceptance" Reever sighed "You cannot let your image fall when you have just been nominated for a Grammy"

"And what do you suggest we do?" Lenalee inquired, visibly concerned with the news.

"We can stay in a hotel" Izzie proposed, uncomfortable by the turn the conversation had given. If she really hated something, was being a burden, especially when it carried problems to the ones who helped her. "I'm sure my father can send us enough money for that"

"No" Komui declared, serious and thoughtful "You know you are in danger, if you two stay alone in a hotel, it'd be like offering you in silver tray to Camelot's men"

"Besides" Reever continued and fixed his eyes on Allen "Cross is about to come back, in a day or two, and I don't think he'd be happy to have company at all"

"Well, if they are women and…" Allen rolled his eyes but interrupted the sentence, not sure if it was safe to continue. After an uncomfortable silence, he finally found a better reply "One of them can stay, we have enough rooms, and I'd keep an eye on Shishou"

"Maybe if both stayed in one house with a responsible adult supervising" the supervisor shut up at Allen's snort, but carried on after the boy fell silent again. "Then the accusations won't be that grave. Talking about that, why haven't you stayed in Lee's house? It is pretty big" Reever suddenly inquired, glaring at Komui with suspicion.

"Because we live too close to downtown" Lenalee was the one who explained "And there are always rivers of people walking in the street, if anyone wanted to take someone away, it'd be painfully easy. Besides, nii-san is never there, and three girls alone in one house is as dangerous as Angel and Izzie staying in a hotel. "

"And Kanda's and Allen's homes are in residential zones" Lavi continued "Where you need to pass through security huts to enter. That's why we chose them"

Reever nodded, understanding their point of view. "Then, since Kanda's house has not enough room, it'd be best if both of them stayed with Cross and…"

"Hell, no" Kanda's sudden exclamation called everybody's attention to him.

"Is there a problem with that, Kanda?" Reever inquired, analyzing the Japanese's expressionless countenance.

"We are fine distributed this way. Just because some idiots can't accept it doesn't mean we need to change" he shrugged and closed his eyes, leaning against the farthest wall.

"Is it me or you don't want Izzie to go?" Allen mischievously turned around to grin at Kanda from his place behind Lenalee.

Izzie stared intently at Kanda, unable to believe what he had just said. Did it really mean he wanted her to stay at his place? Maybe she wasn't that unwelcomed after all, maybe he really _cared_ about her. Her heart started thumping faster at the possibility, ignoring the way she just wanted to scowl at herself for such ridiculous reaction. But, having Kanda caring about her…it was…it just felt so right.

"Che, I never said that. We all know that Cross is gonna _fuck them up _as soon as they step in his sight." He spitted without daring opening his eyes, pretending complete indifference.

"He can control himself, and I'd stay around to keep an eye on them" Lavi responded "You can come, too" he shrugged, but a spark of wonder shone in his unique eye.

"No"

"Then, what about them staying in the headquarters?" Reever inquired, perceiving the sudden heavy atmosphere, especially around Kanda. He stared at the bassist for a pair of seconds and then directed his eyes to the tallest girl in the loveseat.

"What?" Angel was the one to talk, taking place finally in the conversation.

"Yeah, we have some dormitories for the foreigner musician's, there's also a cafeteria and a laundry" Reever proposed and Komui seemed to be pretty convinced with the idea.

"I think is perfect. It is impersonal and we have to come anyway everyday from now on. And there are guards in every entrance. It is perfect" the manager commented. "What do you think, girls?" he turned to face Angel and Izzie, and both girls nodded after a moment of doubt.

"Is everyone fine with it?" Reever asked and received affirmative responses from the entire band, and a 'che' from Kanda.

* * *

"Rejected me" Tyki huffed "Jilted me. I waited for _an hour_ and she never appeared!" the singer was angry, truly angry.

Even when five days had already passed, he still couldn't believe that Izzie, that stupid, arrogant girl, didn't show up to their date. She just…she just didn't appear! Nobody, in his entire life, had ever jilted Tyki. Ever.

"Get over it, Tyki, there are lots of girls in the world" Lulubell commented absentmindedly, blowing her nails and comfortably sitting in the biggest sofa of the house.

"But she…I can't believe it" he turned off the television, where a picture of the girl leaving an elegant flat had been displayed.

"You know who is gonna be angrier about this?" Debitto said "Sheryl. I thought he asked you to conquer the girl and take her to him"

"Don't remind me of that stupid, pigheaded politician. I need a plan" Tyki sprawled in one of the couch and passed a hand through his dark hair, trying to clear his mind.

"Of course we need a plan!" someone yelled from the entrance, making his voice resound in the wide room.

Sheryl walked with long strides to their place, his face contorted with fury. He stopped just the necessary time to hug Rhode back and continued his way ranting against everyone.

"That stupid motherfucker" he sat near Lulubell and made the small bell of the side table ring. A maid instantly entered and took Sheryl's petition before disappearing again.

"You are screwed too?" Jasdero smirked.

"I AM NOT SCREWED!" the politician took a deep breath to calm down and continued with his speech. "Leverrier is a good-for-nothing. And that stupid jackass of Fletcher! How did he get those files?"

"What files? And aren't you supposed to be in Atlanta?" Lulubell asked with her sweet, silky voice.

"The ones of my previous participations with the mafia and…oh, thanks, dear" he accepted the cup the maid had handed to him and sipped "I'm going back tomorrow, I just came while they had their stupid break to deliberate"

The room was silent for nearly five minutes, everyone submerged in their own thoughts and without anything to say at all.

The first one to break the tranquility was Sheryl, with an evil grin adorning his features. "I need those girls. Guess is time to call the mafia hunters again"

"I go with them" Tyki declared, his eyes fixated in the chimney.

"What for? You have probed yourself unable to bring home just one stupid, innocent girl!"

"Hey, don't rant against me. I won't fail again, I am gonna finish with her what I started" he smirked, recalling Izzie's wood scent and the taste of her skin. Of course he was getting the girl, it didn't matter _how_ or if she agreed with it, but, at least, he was continuing what he left undone.


	21. Chapter 21 Prettiest Friend

_Innocence Rock Time_

She woke up, disoriented for the umpteenth time. She didn't realize how accustomed she had become to living at Kanda's until now that, having changed home, she couldn't help but feel a bit out of place each time she got up in the morning. It didn't help the fact that living in Black Order's headquarters was practically the same as if staying in a hotel.

The rooms consisted of one comfortable bed, a desk, a closet, a night table and a complete bathroom. They had good furniture and were of first class, with service to the room, but there wasn't that _domestic_ ambient which Izzie missed so badly.

In the next floor there was a cafeteria, where the guests, musicians and workers usually had breakfast and dinner.

Izzie sighed, approached the small closet and took a pair of jeans and a blue buttons shirt, together with a comfortable pair of sneakers. She made her typical morning routine: have a shower, get dressed, grab her schoolbag and meet Angel in the cafeteria.

She still couldn't make up her mind to the idea that they were attending school. It was an expensive private high school in an exclusive part of Denver. Their parents, Leverrier and James had sent the necessary documents via Internet and their bank accounts' numbers for the fees; and the two girls were successfully accepted together with the rest of the band.

The change of scenario, from the roads and the auditoriums to a common high school, was hilarious to Izzie, so the three first days she couldn't help but smile and almost giggle when hordes of female students attacked Innocence's males.

Everything was weirdly calm, so tranquil that it didn't feel natural. Izzie and Angel tried to keep aware of the events going on back in Atlanta, but no important news were released and none of them dared call for information.

"It's like the calm before the storm" Izzie commented while helping herself with some cereal in the cafeteria.

"Don't be so pessimistic, Izzie-chan" Angel smiled "It probably means that things are fixing up"

"You are always so cheerful and optimistic" Izzie sighed, as if wishing she could have the same mentality. "But may I have reasons to believe you don't want things to go back to normal?" it was more a statement than a question and Angel, though naïve as she was, easily caught the meaning of her friend's words because she hardly ever thought of anything else.

"I like him very much" she shyly confessed and fixated her eyes on the scrambled eggs so her friend wouldn't notice her embarrassment "and not only for his looks –even when I still think he is extremely hot- but also for his personality. He is somehow sweet and tender under all that mischievousness and also cares, he really cares about other people. And he is always so happy, the way he smiles…his cheerfulness is contagious. I …well, I can't say I love him because that's a really strong affirmation, but I can say I like him very very much, and not only Lavi Bookman: the singer, but also Lavi the person"

The girl finished abruptly, suddenly conscious that she had said more than intended, and slowly lifted her eyes just to appreciate Izzie smiling condescendingly at her, in that motherly way of hers.

"What?" Angel inquired, narrowing her eyes when her friend kept on smiling.

"Nothing. Is just that I've never seen you like that" Izzie shrugged "I hope things go well between you two"

"I wouldn't be so expectant. I mean, he…he likes to flirt, a lot. And maybe he just doesn't feel anything for me but mere regard" there was pain printed in Angel's voice, even when she tried to hide it behind a slight smirk.

It was hurtful to think that all those days spent with Lavi in his garden, writing songs and talking about their lives –basically Angel's- hadn't mean truly nothing to the singer, or at least not as much as they meant to her.

Angel wasn't hopeful in that aspect, already conscious of Lavi's character, even when she really, really wanted something else, something deeper and more meaningful, to happen. But, seriously, who was she that Lavi could possibly be interested in starting a relationship?

"Are you kiddin'?" was Izzie's response when she told her all that. "He is crazy about you, just look at him in the eyes…eye, whatever, the point is that he _does_ feel something for you"

"How can you be so sure? You don't know him that well"

"Because those things are really notorious. I bet you that it's just a matter of time for him to realize how much he likes you back" Izzie grinned "And then, you'll be happily together"

"Yeah, as much as Kanda and you. I'm sure you two will get together sooner than us" Angel beamed when she noticed the color ascending to Izzie's cheeks, and finally got the chance, after days of not being able to talk in private about that subject, to ask the so forbidden question: "Do you like him?"

"I..I…" Izzie stuttered and hastily got up "We…should go to school, Komui may be waiting for us downstairs"

"Oi, don't change me the subject" Angel exclaimed, using an expression that reminded them of Lavi. The girl left equally the table and followed her friend. "Do you like him?"

"I…does it matter?" Izzie averted her eyes, feigning great interest in the metallic doors of the elevator.

"Of course it matters! Tell me, tell me! Or I am going to assume that you two had already made out and…"

"No! We…no, of course not" she shook her head as they entered the lift "Okay, maybe I like him, but it is not like he is gonna ever like me back" she harshly retorted, gritting her teeth so the heart-ache that statement occasioned her wouldn't ooze through her voice.

"Come on, Izzie, you know he likes you. The way he resisted to you getting out of his house…"

"That doesn't mean anything. He told me that morning that…well, he was out of my reach. And he is right" Izzie nonchalantly took out her hand from her jean's pocket, where she had put it just before they touched the subject, and a sheet of paper flew right out of it.

"What's this?" Angel bent down and picked it.

"Amm, nothing. Give it back" Izzie tried to recover it, but Angel merely turned around and gave her friend her back while reading the words scribbled down.

"Woah, you wrote this? It sounds like you did it for Kanda-san!" the doors of the elevator opened and Angel ran out of it before Izzie could stop her and take back the paper.

"I…well…just give it back, Angel!"

"Nope. I think it is a great lyric for a song and…"

"That's what it is meant to be but…come on, Angel!" the so distressed girl ran after her friend across the main hall of the Black Order Music Corporation building and stopped yelling at her when they reached Komui's white car parked just outside the headquarters.

"Hey, why are you running after Angel?" Lenalee asked Izzie, curiosity shining in her big eyes at the strange scene of before.

"I…I wasn't. Just…it's late, let's go" Izzie climbed up the car before anyone could ask more questions. Lenalee darted Angel a questioning look but the girl just shrugged and stepped into the vehicle.

* * *

"Angel, give it back to me" Izzie was still following Angel around the hallways of the school, begging to the latest girl to return the dreadful piece of paper.

"Nope" Angel smiled and kept her pace through the corridor, directing them to a lockers' section they hadn't been in before.

"Angel, come on!" Izzie launched forward in an attempt to take the paper off her friend's hand, but Angel merely pressed it against her chest and hurried to the locker which she had aimed to reach. She only knew it because it was next to Lavi's and she had seen the two musicians there before.

Angel lifted the paper and let it slip through ones of the slots of the metallic door.

"What are you doing?" Izzie almost shrieked when she realized what her friend had done. She tried violently to open the locker's door and get her precious verses back, but it was firmly locked.

"What, what have you done? It was personal!"

"I just gave it to the person who it was written to" Angel stared back at her friend innocently, but with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She watched her friend's face getting even paler.

"Wha…what?" Izzie suddenly found it hard breathe, like the air had been taken out of her lungs.

"Just what you heard. Hey, look, here he com…"

Izzie didn't wait for one more syllable to come out from her friend's lips; she grabbed her shoulder and pulled the girl, obligating her to crouch down beside the last locker of the line, together with her. Some teens glared at them, recognizing the girls as the Innocence's permanent companions, but no one said anything.

"What have you done?" Izzie hissed in a low voice, cautiously trying to go unnoticedand hearing Kanda's steps approaching. They were so focused in his movements that even caught the squeakof the door when it was opened.

"What the…" he murmured and Izzie hastily pulled her friend back to their place when she tried to snoop. Angel giggled quietly, enjoying with her friend's distress.

"I have never seen you this mortified" she smiled.

"Shut up" Izzie murmured. She could feel her heart bumping loudly against her ribs and couldn't decide if it was bigger her embarrassment for having Kanda reading that paper or the anger against the person who was the reason he was actually reading it.

A second voice resounded in the hallway, too cheerful to be confused.

"HEEY, YUU! What are you doin', huh? Let's see, oi, don't crumple it already!"

"Is just fangirl's shit" the bassist replied with his typical cold tone, and that exclamation filled Izzie's chest with an unknown feeling until then. It was pain, desolation, hopelessness, or…something more, she couldn't name it, but it was like someone had squeezed her lungs against her heart.

"Oi, let's see". Lavi grabbed the piece of paper and read it aloud for Izzie's greater mortification.

" _I know you may be scared_

_And I know we are unprepared._

_But I don't care_

_Tell me, tell me, _

_what makes you think that you are invincible?_

_I can see it in your eyes that you are so sure_

_Please don't tell me that I'm the only one that's vulnerable_

_Impossible"_

I think I've seen this before. Isn't it Izzie-chan's handwriting?" the girls heard the redheaded declare.

There was an uncomfortable silence in which Izzie thought Angel could hear her heart bumping.

"Che, who cares?" Kanda finally spat, but his tone of voice was less vehement than before.

"Well, these are good lyrics and…"

"Angel, Angel, hey!" Izzie whispered and tried to stop her friend when she stood up and appeared in the middle of the hallway, but it was in vain.

"Hey, guys" Angel greeted and walked into them.

"Angel! Hey, come, isn't this Izzie-chan's handwriting? I am sure I saw it when she filled the inscription form"

Izzie again heard no voices, she supposed Angel feigned to be reading the note, or maybe it was just her blood thumping behind her ears the one that didn't let her hear. "Why the earth doesn't open and swallow me?" she murmured to herself.

"Yes, it is. Wow, I didn't know she was this good. So, how did you find it?" Angel commented, trying to sound spontaneous, but she had never been a really good actress and the emotion the situation caused in her made her façade less credible.

"OI! IT WAS IN YUU'S LOCKER, IT WAS IN YUU'S LOCKER!" Lavi exclaimed, raising his voice "Oh my my…I knew it! I knew there was something going on between you two! Hey, Yuu, where are you going? Don't you wanna talk about your pretty little lover?"

"Nay, just shut the fuck up" the sudden ring of the bell, indicating the beginning of classes, muffled his reply and the students started moving to their classrooms. After a farewell to Lavi, Angel appeared again beside Izzie's hidden form.

"Hey, stop being an embarrassed little goblin princess. He kept your song"

* * *

They used to spend some time after classes in the music classroom; it was some typical ritual they made since the first days of the band.

Lavi arrived a few minutes earlier, since he had finished his history's essay and handed it before anyone else.

He sat over the only desk and started playing the guitar absently, trying some new chords and fixing them so they could suit his latest song written. It was a surprise, and he still couldn't believe he had actually written something so _cheesy_, but the truth was that he had put his heart on it and every feeling he had inside.

The door of the classroom opened and he lifted his eye, expecting to meet Kanda or maybe Allen, but, instead of the band's members or any of their friends, in the doorway was standing Melanie Williams, one of the girls he dated last semester.

"Hey" she smiled at him, revealing a perfect white teeth.

"Hey, Mel" Lavi greeted absentmindedly and returned to his business, sure that the girl had gone there for some other instrument. But he was so wrong.

"Hey, have you already forgotten last semester?" she asked and sat beside Lavi in the small desk, tossing her long blonde hair behind her shoulder.

She was pretty, Lavi admitted it. Prettier than a lot of students he had met, and they both had spent really good times together during the last school period, but he had dropped her when it was discovered that she dated two other guys at the same time.

"I wish I had" the singer forced a smile "How are Brian and Dylan doing?" he said, referring to the girl's other boyfriends, making it evident that he hadn't forgotten the betrayal.

"Oh, don't even mention them. You are the one I really liked, you know?" Melanie trailed a finger along Lavi's forearm, purring near the singer's ear.

"No, Mel. Not anymore" he stated and jumped off the table with his guitar. Suddenly, Melanie's fast hand turned the singer's head in her direction and their mouths met in a hasty motion.

Lavi tried to break it off and push the girl, but his hands were busy holding the guitar. Melanie misinterpreted the fact that he wasn't giving real opposition and cupped his face with her hands, deepening the kiss.

The male stepped back, trying to release himself from the girl's embrace, but she moved together with him carefully keeping their mouths together.

She only stopped when they heard the door open again and the couple turned to face the intruder.

"Melanie, n…" Lavi's phrase died in his lips and his eye widened in horror, feeling the blood disappearing from his face.

Angel gawked at the previous sight, but the girl's expression converted from one of surprise to one of pure pain and betrayal. She murmured something back and closed the door behind her.

"Oh, shit" Lavi left the guitar over the table and ran across the hallway.

"Lavi? Wait!" Melanie replied, but he didn't really hear her and chased Angel along the corridor, screaming her name, even though, the girl merely ignored him and accelerated her pace.

"Angel, wait!" he yelled, running behind her. He finally reached her with his long strides and grabbed her arm.

"I am sorry for interrupting! Just let go!" she said in an anguished tone and tried to release her arm, but Lavi just tightened his grip.

"Angel, just…please, hear. She kissed me! I had nothing to do…"

"Oh, come on, that's the oldest excuse ever. Let me go!"

"Hear me, please. I am telling you the truth!"

"You don't owe me an explanation, it was pretty clear"

"Angel, it wasn't…she just came and…"

"I know, I am sorry for interrupting, that's all. It isn't like you are truly attached to someone or…"

"Yeah, I am actually attached to someone" he finally said and the solemnity in his affirmation made Angel finally able to meet his eyes –eye, whatever-.

"Really?" she narrowed her eyes and prayed that the tears weren't still visible "Who?"

"Come, I'll show you. Just stop crying, for heaven's sake" he walked back to the music classroom and the girl, after some hesitation, reluctantly followed him.

Fortunately, Melanie had already gone and the room was left just for them.

Lavi reached the guitar and sat down on the desk, accommodating the instrument across his body. He swallowed loudly, trying to get the lump he was feeling down, and couldn't explain the reason why his hands were shaking. He had never felt so insecure in his life, not even when he sang in their first concert. A thousand of questions crowded in his mind, but he tried to block them and focus in the strings of his guitar. He had to keep his nerves under control if he wanted to do what he intended and keep himself mentally sane, because it felt like he was going crazy.

The first two chords were played with such hesitation that they sounded terrible, so he needed to do another pair of tries until he finally got it right. It was a sweet melody and when the time of the vocal part came, he found again the security music helped him have and the words he had previously written came swiftly to his mouth and lingered in the air.

"_This is what I look like today_

_And I'm trying not to pull ou my hair_

_I'm trying hard to grow it,_

_but I'm far to shy to show it back there_

_That is probably why I like wearing hats_

_There's no denying, I'm deferring the facts_

_Avoiding confrontation_

_Lacks tact in a situation_

_Behind every line is a lesson yet to learn._

_But if you ask me, _

_the feeling that I'm feeling is overwhelming_

_and oh it goes to show_

_there's so much to know_

_I wrote this for my prettiest friend, _

_But while trying not to prove that I care_

_I was trying not to make all my moves in one motion_

_And scare her away_

_Well, she can't see she's making me crazy now_

_I don't believe she know she's amazing how_

_She has me holding my breathe_

_So I'll never guess that I'm a none such unsuitable_

_Suitable for her_

_And if you ask me_

_The feeling that I'm feeling is complimentary_

_And all it goes to show_

_The moral of the story_

_Is boy loves girl_

_And so on_

_But the way it unfolds is yet to be told_

There was an instrumental part that Lavi played confidently, but trying to keep his eyes in the instrument so he wouldn't meet Angel's amused expression. He felt as if his heart was about to jump out of his mouth and hesitated a second before starting to sing the last part of the song.

_I know that I should be brave_

_Even pretty can be seen by the blind_

_I know that I cannot wait_

_Until the day we finally learn_

_How to find each other, redefining open minds_

_And if you ask me _

_the feeling that I'm feeling_

_is overjoyed_

_and it's golden, it goes to show then_

_the endin of the song should be left alone_

_and so on _

_cause' the way it unfolds is yet to be told_

They both remained in silence after his fingers released the strings of the last notes. He could feel her eyes fixated on his face and could find no voice to say everything he wanted.

Finally, he lifted his eyes to meet hers. His expression was calm in comparison with the way he was truly feeling and his green iris brightened in a way Angel had never before contemplated.

They stared at each other without daring to burst with their flimsy exclamations the magic bubble that had been formed. Angel finally understood what some people meant when they said that a look was better than a thousand words.

"So…" she finally broke the silence with a shaky voice "Who is your prettiest friend?"

"Don't you guess?" Lavi answered with a hoarse voice and a smile played with the corner of his lips.

Angel denied with her head.

Lavi giggled and stared sweetly at the girl standing awkwardly.

"My _prettiest friend_ is the one standing right in front of me"

Angel turned around and scanned the room quietly, just to realize that it was empty except for them both. She turned to face Lavi again with a bewildered expression which then turned into one of pure glee when she realized what he had meant. She laughed heartily and new tears of joy replaced the ones of before. The jumped forward and surrounded Lavi's neck with her arms, still giggling. The singer left his guitar aside and returned her the hug, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked after a while, still rubbing circles between her shoulder blades. She separated from him to look at his face.

"Did you ever ask before?" Angel laughed. God, she was so happy!

"I…" he hesitated and a faint pink tone arose to his cheeks "It's different. It doesn't feel like a game anymore"

Angel was surprised by the seriousness of his expression, complemented with the way his voice sounded abnormally husky. She laughed again and found courage enough to brush his lips with hers for half a second.

They hugged again and stayed like that for what stretched to become an eternity. Time had stopped to be relevant to them and were contented with the warmth that each other's body.

"It is weird…that the others hadn't come yet" she commented after a while, letting him go.

"Yeah, they should be here by now. We go and find them?"

She nodded and reached for the door, but almost crashed with Lavi's back when he ran ahead and crouched down.

"I'll take you, _prettiest friend_" they laughed and Angel climbed to his back.

They searched in every possible classroom, but there was no sign of their friends. The building was practically empty and they only crossed with a few relegatedstudents.

As their last option, they headed for the parking lot, where Lavi's motorcycle and Kanda's car were, but the couple just froze in the big doorframe of the double-door entrance.

Two black cars were blocking the exits and one more was parked just in front of the stairs that leaded to the building.

Men equally dressed in black clothes were gathered around the car and were _fighting _with four teenagers.

"What the…?" Lavi half exclaimed and let Angel get off his back. Some of the men yelled an unintelligible instruction and pointed in their direction.

A pair of the mysterious attackers saw them and climbed up the stairs that separated the newcomers from the agitation below.

"ANGEL, RUN!" Angel heard Izzie yell and found her the moment a man grabbed the girl by the neck.

* * *

A/N: I am so sorry for the last chapter, I know it was way too BORING, but I hope you understand it was necessary.

Oi, Lavi and Angel are finally together! HURRAY! it was so nice to write that part, it just felt so good! I love that couple 3 by the way, the song Lavi sings to Angel is Prettiest Friend- Jason Mraz and it is one of my fav songs ever. I also have a crush with that guy.

So here comes a bit of action, I promise next chapter will definetely be full of action! I have evil plans for it (jiji) so...what about a review and see if I can update sooner? haha xD

The other song, the one Izzie writes to Kanda (FINALLY SHE ADMITS SHE LIKES HIM!) is Vulnerable-Secondhand Serenade and it was recommended by mdotaku, the full song will appear in further chapters. Thank you so much for your suggestion, it really helped me to get through my writer's block.

Kanda is falling for Izzie but he doesn't want to admit it (8)

So, what about a REVIEW? (I think I have already written that) but well, I already have an idea of next chapter, so just click that button and it will come out in some days! XD


	22. Chapter 22 Subway 284

Lavi grabbed Angel's wrist and prepared to run, but a big man took him by the collar and crashed the teen against one of the doors, which opened violently down the weight of the two males.

"Lavi!" Angel exclaimed when the pressure of Lavi's hand on her wrist ceded, and was about to run to the side of her boyfriend (A/N: woah, it feels good to write it haha) when another black figure blocked her way.

The man tried to grab her by the collar, but Angel dodged his arms bending over her stomach. She spun over her heels and suddenly threw a kick to the man's chin, making him stagger backwards.

Taking advantage of her adversary's perplexity, she ran to the place where Lavi was wrestling with the other man, which was several inches taller than him and a lot of pounds fatter.

Angel kicked the back part of the knee of Lavi's contender, so the man suddenly lost his balance and bent on his back, his neck conveniently lowered at Angel's reach. The girl wrapped it with her arm and pushed the man's head against the floor.

She heard Lavi pant and turned to see what the singer was doing: he was punching the nose of the another man, who shouted in pain and covered his face, blood slipping through his fingers.

Angel repeated the same procedure that she had applied to the other man with him and suddenly both enemies were left on the floor.

"Oi, that's my girl" Lavi smiled and kissed Angel in the cheek. "I didn't know you could fight"

She shrugged "Leverrier made me take lessons. Let's go see the others"

They both ran again outside the building. The scene was worst than when they first saw it.

Allen was struggling to release Lenalee from the tight grip in which her hands were held by one of the men. She was yelling something to Allen in hysterics.

On the other side there was Kanda, who had just knocked a man, who was trying to force Izzie into a car, with his _boken_. The young girl had just stepped aside when another person appeared right in front of her and took her by the collar. She kneed him in the crotch and Kanda hit his nape with the handle of his wood weapon, driving him unconscious.

Angel half smirked at the sight of the pair working so well together while Lavi and her ran downstairs. Someone tried to block their way, but Angel's foot set him apart and she thought she broke his chin when a crack resounded under her sneaker.

"MOYASHI!" Kanda yelled and tossed something, small and brilliant, to the boy's direction. Allen caught it in the air. "IF YOU CRASH, YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

Allen seemed to understand his instructions the moment he opened his palm and appreciated the object in it. He then grabbed Lenalee's forearm, punched the one who tried to stop them in the nose, and ran to the back part of the parking lot.

They didn't seem to pay a lot of attention to them, since the men's real targets were right where they wanted them to be.

Suddenly, an explosion resounded in the midst of the battle. The struggling and the wrestling stopped, everybody stunned by the sudden sound and they all turned to find the source of it.

In the middle of the place where they had been contending, there was a tall, attractive man, with a tanned brilliant skin and dark curls. He was handing a black gun up in the air, with the canon pointing to the sky, and a thin spiral of smoke rising from it.

Tyki's eyes glinted with evil pleasure when they landed on Izzie's sweated form.

"Hey there, honey" he smirked. "You jilted me" his voice lowered to a dangerous husky tone.

Izzie was about to give a harsh reply, pure resentment lightning her eyes, when Kanda's tall figure placed between her and Tyki.

"Take your fucking ass away" the bassist deadpanned.

"I thought you a little bit wiser, Kanda" Tyki replied, their conversation clearly audible to the entire party, since everyone had literally stopped breathing, the men in black staring at Tyki with quiet obedience and respect. "I didn't want to take lives with me, but guess your disappearance won't be meaningful to the world" Tyki lowered his pistol and directed it right to the center of Kanda's chest.

Everything happened too fast.

Somebody kicked Tyki's arm and the bullet hit one of the black car's windows instead of its original objective.

But none of them could understand why the racket was suddenly so loud and overwhelming.

The black car where they had tried to force Izzie to enter was forcefully but roughly moving, the passenger's door suddenly hitting Tyki's form away. There was a roar between the general confusion and a motorcycle appeared right in the middle of the scene. The rider took Angel's arm, placed her in the seat at his back and rapidly disappeared.

"Move" Kanda, finally understanding that Allen had crashed his car against the black Mercedes, swallowed his swears and took Izzie's wrist, running away with her. They jumped over one of the empty vehicles that were blocking the way and hurried down the street.

They sprinted as fast as they could, Izzie grateful with every step she gave for having long legs that helped her keep Kanda's pace.

Before they had turned the first corner, Izzie heard the heavy steps and the forced yells of their pursuers. Kanda seemed to hear them too, because he accelerated and held the boken with more strength.

They crossed a rushed street, barely escaping of being hit by a car, and entered a very crowded zone of the city.

The tall buildings eclipsed the sunlight and they frequently collided with the different passer-byes, who slowed down their advance. In one moment, Izzie stopped feeling Kanda's safety grip around her wrist. She stopped running, spun over her heels searching for his companion but only found herself trapped in the middle of a sea of people. She was pushed around by them and the different conversations drowned her calls to the Japanese boy.

"Oh my God, oh my…" she suddenly caught a glimpse of men dressed in black running in her direction. They definitely had seen her and she tried to hastily run away, but she just ran into one of the pedestrians. He complaint something in a rude voice, but she didn't listen.

"Holy crap, move!" someone took her hand and she held it tightly back, recognizing the harsh voice that had talked to her. They started their race again and ran down a set of stairs into the subsoil.

They jumped over the metallic bars that separated the entrance from the rest of the underground construction, a whistle warning them of the police having noticed their illegal action, but that didn't make the couple stop.

There was only when the metallic form with a set of windows and sliding doors appeared in front of them that Izzie realized what Kanda planned.

She sank her foot in the floor and almost fell when Kanda kept on running, pulling her with him.

"Hey, move!" he tried to force her to walk, but the girl obstinately resisted, shaking her head like a five year old kid who refused to take a medicine.

"Oi, goblin!" Kanda pulled her, fixing his eyes one moment over the girl's still form, and noticing with apprehension that their pursuers were just a meters away, together with a pair of policemen.

He was way stronger than her and her feet moved against her will some inches forward when he pulled her terrified form.

"N..no…no…" she whispered, her eyes widened in horror at the sight of what she thought was the most horrible monster ever.

"They are almost….oh, bloody hell" Kanda crouched down, grabbed Izzie's knees and dropped the rest of her body over his shoulder and started running to the subway.

"What…what the hell are you doing?" she finally reacted, finding her voice through the heavy lump she was feeling.

"Saving your dammed ass" he harshly retorted and crossed the doors just one second before they completely closed.

He ignored the whisperings and gossips that his appearance had caused and placed the now trembling girl on the floor. She immediately retreated to the door, hoping it was still open and taunted with her fingers the glass surface.

Unfortunately, they were already sealed.

The girl clung to one of the bars as if her life depended on it and tightly closed her eyes.

The images were so vivid behind her eyelids that she started unconsciously to whimper in terror, babbling unconnected words without thinking too much in what she said. It felt just like six years ago. The movement of the wagon, the sounds, the whisperings. It was like having a déjà vu, or like running back into the past. Her mother, the blood, the crash, the screech, the screams…

"Oi, stop fucking crying" Kanda ordered. She didn't seem to hear him, for the girl continued mumbling some unintelligible words in Spanish without paying attention to anything around.

"Stop being so dammed _vulnerable_, goblin" that worked better, for after a few seconds of tense silence, she shut her eyes open, conscious of the emphasize he had given to the word she had used in the last song, and faced his smug smirk.

"Shut the _fuck_ up" she retorted in a hoarse, low voice. Her eyes were injected in red, with fresh tears threatening to fall.

"I told you I am out of your reach" he harshly declared, enjoying with the way the color returned to the girl's pale face.

"Angel found it and put it in…your locker" she was still so badly shaking, but her voice sounded firmer than before "I…it is not my fault"

"But you are still the one who wrote it" he shut his mouth, waiting for some denial, but Izzie just bit her lip and said nothing. "For me" he continued. She didn't deny it either, and the warmth that Kanda felt in his interior was easily interpreted by him as auto-sufficiency and pride.

"Just go to hell" she closed her eyes again when the sound of metals clashing filled the floor below them.

She was really, really scared. Even when color had dramatically reached her cheeks for a pair of seconds under Kanda's accusations, her face had lost again all trace of blood.

Her lips were frantically moving but without saying any word aloud, like if she was praying. Kanda hadn't noticed it until then, but he realized, under closer inspection, that even when her mouth was small, her lips had a really nice form and were half-full.

Without noticing it, he leaned closer, so close that he could smell the cherry scent of her pale pink gloss, combined with her wooden aroma that he liked so much.

He wondered for a second how it'd be to _kiss_ her. He had already made out with half a dozen -okay, maybe a dozen- of girls, all of them bold and cheeky, enchanted with his celebrity status and dazed by his beauty. The bassist tried to recall the last time he had been so close to an actually _innocent _woman, and couldn't find any satisfactory memory.

Izzie's vulnerability and embarrassment, together with the fact that she actually liked him, resulted to be kind of shocking to him. How'd she react if he tried something more with her?

They had kissed once, he remembered, and she was bold and cheeky too, but because of the alcohol influence. Other than that, she had shown to be prudent and reserved.

He suddenly grew aware that just a few more inches separated their mouths, and he could almost taste the warmth of her hyperventilating.

A bit more closer…

There was a screech and some gasps of surprise. Izzie could see, rather than hear, a resemblance of the incident of so many years ago. She let out a loud shriek and Kanda instinctively surrounded her waist with the arm in which he was still holding the boken and pressed her against himself while, with the other hand, he clung to one of the upper bars to prevent their bodies from being launched forward by inertia.

The subway had stopped out of nowhere. The darkness visible outside the windows indicated that they hadn't still arrived and were trapped in the middle of a large tunnel. There were murmurs and concerned whispers, everybody looking into the other passengers' faces as if someone had the answer to why they suddenly stopped.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, we must inform that the subway 284 had to stop for an emergency. The wagons will be checked by some of our personal, so remain calm and in your seats until the revision has finished. Thank you" _someone announced through the loudspeakers, a voice that sounded terribly known to Kanda.

He could feel Izzie still trembling under his embrace but, fortunately, the girl had stopped shrieking.

"Wha…what's going on?" she weakly asked, lifting her eyes to meet Kanda's grave countenance.

"I don't fucking…Oh, damn it" he snapped. From one of the extremes of the wagon, two men were approaching to their direction. They were dressed in the same black clothes of the ones that had pursued them before and the handle of a pair of pistols were visible hanging from their belts.

Izzie followed Kanda's eyes direction and her face turned even paler at the sight "How…" she didn't end, since Kanda had already pushed her against the metallic doors in his endeavor to open them. However, they didn't even move an inch aside, firmly sealed.

By that moment, the pursuers had already noticed them, and they started to run in their direction between the dozens of people who represented blessed obstacles. Kanda scanned the wagon in search of a possible escape, and his blue eyes landed in a trapdoor set in the ceiling for emergency situations.

"Here" he commanded and pulled Izzie with him to the direction. He harshly ordered a passenger to move and jumped over one of the benches carrying the girl along.

When Izzie realized what Kanda's plan was, he had already forced the trapdoor open and lifted her with one of his powerful arms. The girl clumsily climbed up and extended her arm to help the bassist up, but he didn't take it, getting on the top of the wagon effortlessly.

Izzie then shut the door close and ran with Kanda along the wagon's roof after he had accommodated the boken in his belt so it wouldn't hinder the movement of his hands. They heard when the other men got up too, but didn't stop to turn around. This time, it was Izzie the one who held tight Kanda's hand.

The interior of the tunnels was illuminated now and them by some yellow lamps buzzing every five meters, accompanied by the sound of the rats running and a constant dripping.

And also an artificial thunder not so welcomed.

Izzie felt the bullet impact below her right foot and that was enough for her to lose the precarious balance she had kept up to then. Her leg ceded to the nothingness of the side of the subway and she fell, dragging Kanda along.

She felt two impacts at the same time: the one of the ground against her back and the one of Kanda's weight falling over her. Her breathe was abruptly cut and she found it difficult to focus her sight.

"Get up" a hoarse voice ordered and someone helped her –or rather, obligated her- back up. She staggered and had to lean on Kanda's arm for a second until her senses functioned correctly again.

There was another thunder and Kanda decided not to wait any more. He dragged Izzie along the maze of dark and dirty tunnels.

They jumped over a set of rails and interned themselves in a narrow passage until they thought they had lost their pursuers. They slowed their career to recover strength, harshly breathing the stuffy air. Izzie tried not to pay attention to the continuous squeak of the rats and ignore the evident stench of rotted meat, focused instead in trying to find a way out.

Another big tunnel, even bigger than the previous one and parallel to it, received them, together with the scandal of metal clashing against metal. The closer railways were slightly shaking and the rats ran away, aware of the proximity of a train.

"If we get to jump just before it arrives" Kanda gasped "We'd have definitely lost them"

Izzie was conscious of the evident danger of the action, but said nothing. They bent their knees and prepared themselves to jump.

In comparison with the last time Kanda's and Izzie's lives were threatened, just some moments ago, the events happened now in a slow motion, every detail highlightened by the dreadfulness of the results.

Their grip loosened just the moment their feet had separated from the ground, Izzie pulled back by a strange force.

Kanda arrived safely to the other side and hastily turned around to see why the girl had let go.

Tyki was holding her wrists together behind her back, applying every bit of his strength to avoid her from escaping, even when she was offering a great battle, violently struggling.

Kanda was about to jump back even when it was practically a suicidal attempt because of the proximity of the subway, the bright lights already blinding him.

Izzie saw Tyki pull the trigger before the explosion resounded in the darkness.

The bassist collapsed behind an explosion of scarlet just before the subway hid his body.

"KANDA!"

* * *

A/N: KANDA! OMG, I hate myself so much right now...

Thank you so much for your support, I hope you don't hate me right now.

I really don't know what to say, just that ...Damn! Why didn't they just kiss? (I know I should know the answer, but I truly don't)

Wait for the next chapter! I promise it'll be up soon.

Leave a REVIEW or Kanda DIES! (oh God, that's low...just review, hehe, please?)


	23. Chapter 23 Wake up call

_Innocence Rock Time~_

"KANDA! KANDA!" Izzie yelled. She endeavored to release herself from Tyki's evil hands, putting every bit of her strength in it, but it was all fruitless.

The subway grew immense to Izzie's eyes. She tried desperately to get some brief glimpse of Kanda's body between the wheels of the wagons, but she couldn't crouch down correctly because of Tyki's grip.

"Calm down, honey. I can't take you if you keep mov…OW!" Izzie stepped on Tyki's right foot, cutting his phrase in the middle.

She thought for a second that the kidnapper will let her go, prey of the pain, but his hand applied more pressure on her slim wrists. He shoved the gunpoint to the girl's face, hoping that the threaten may ease her struggling, but her anger and desperation overcame any other feeling.

"Shoot" she requested when her eyes met the weapon right beside her face "Just SHOOT, DAMMED COWARD! _ASESINO_! KILL ME IF YOU ARE SO BRAVE!" the young girl shrieked.

"Kill you, honey? Oh no, you are way too useful for that. Now, let's go" Tyki calmly replied, smirking at her infuriated expression, and dragged the girl backwards.

Finally, the subway reached to an end. Izzie stared wide-eyed at Kanda's bleeding figure.

A puddle of crimson surrounded the left part of the bassist's form, his limbs apparently relaxed under the dim light.

"KANDA! KANDA! OH MY GOD, NO! _POR FAVOR, POR FAVOR, NO"_

"Fuck, why are you so stubborn? Move now, see, he is dead" Tyki pulled her backwards, but the girl kept putting resistance, not conscious at all of her actions.

She yearned to go with Kanda, horrified and scared but, over everything, guilty. She felt terribly guilty, the idea of Kanda dying for her crawling in her mind and torturing the few sane left in her.

"NO! YOU…DON'T! Assassin! DON'T TOUCH ME!" she tried again and again to release, to get rid of Tyki's grip without any success.

She only stopped when the canon of the pistol pressed her temple.

"You are getting on my nerves, sweet. I can kill you and tell it was an…"

"Then pull the trigger" she hissed between gritted teeth and raised her voice again. "KILL ME, TIKY MIKK, KILL ME NOW, _MALDITO _ASSASSIN!"

She'd have continued her rant like that, shouting at the top of her lungs, if it hadn't been because a hoarse reply, too low and distant to be understood, reached Tyki's and Izzie's ears.

They both turned to face the only creature around that could have made such a sound, and Izzie saw, with great relief, that Kanda's head was slightly lifted, the man trying to see them between his now messy hairs.

The bassist tried to stand up, ignoring the way Tyki was pointing at him again with his gun.

"No!" Izzie used her whole weight to hit Tyki's chest with her shoulder. The bullet ricocheted in the railways with a metallic clink.

"Stop being such a nuisance, sweetheart. Just one more bullet and…"

"No" she firmly replied "Just…just let him live. I'll voluntarily go with you. But leave him alone" Izzie hastily muttered and bit her lip, conscious of the possible consequences of her decision after she had voiced it.

But, as long as it saved Kanda's life…

"_N..no…"_ Kanda weakly hissed. He was now half-incorporated and Izzie noticed a river of scarlet running down his left arm. The face of the Japanese musician was deadly pale and Izzie arrived in seconds to the conclusion that if he didn't die of the bullet impact, he'd do because of the loss of blood.

"You really like him, huh?" Tyki mocked "Okay, honey, but this means you'll voluntarilyand without any resistance do _everything _I ask you to do from now on"

Izzie pressed her lips in a taunt line, the double blade of Tyki's words clearly reaching her mind.

Did she really _appreciate _Kanda that much? Because, damn, she wouldn't say anything close to _love_. But did she really _esteem _him so much that she'd go with Tyki and accept all the consequences just to keep him alive?

It didn't take so much for her to reach the answer.

"Let's go" she reluctantly murmured, avoiding Kanda's astonished expression. "But you will let me call someone to come and help Kanda"

"Of course, sweetie, as long as they are not the authorities" Tyki smirked and walked away, dragging the girl with him.

"No…ugh… Izzie!" there was a last yell in the tunnels of the subway just when Kanda found strength enough to raise his voice, but, by then, the girl's and the Noah's Ark singer's figures had already fused with the darkness, the same that then invaded his senses.

* * *

Cold drops of water wetted their bodies. The roads were crowded by thousands of cars, all of them hooting to the one in front and to the red motorcycle that now and then scooted between the vehicles.

The pavement was slippery and Lavi had to maneuver wisely his motorcycle, focusing his five senses in it and in the traffic so they wouldn't run into a car or a building.

Angel held tightly the singer's waist, clinging to him like if he was an anchor. Being in a motorcycle at high speed with Innocence's singer was something she had always dreamt to do, but the black car of pursuers wasn't exactly in her schemes of a pleasant ride.

A bullet suddenly ricocheted someplace in the pavement below them. Lavi accelerated to 160 km per hour and escaped from the traffic jam driving over the sidewalk, where the innocent passer-byes had to jump aside to avoid being ran over by the mad-man and his companion.

"Move, move move! Move!" Angel yelled to the pedestrians, looking back to find the location of the black car that had been following them since Lavi outwitted the parking lot of the school.

They rounded a corner and re-incorporated the street, the traffic a lot more fluent there than in the previous avenue.

Lavi reduced the velocity to a reasonable 100 km per hour and strolled a while in random streets with the only purpose to establish a bigger distance between them and their chasers, until they thought they had definitely lost them.

"That is why I like a motorcycle" Lavi declared when they finally stopped in front of a local market, where the traders stored away their merchandise before it got wetter. "I can easily sneak around" the male smiled and helped Angel to get off the vehicle.

"I see" she weakly murmured. Her legs were slightly trembling and her knees bent when she stepped on the wet asphalt. Lavi gently held her up by the arm and she leaned in him tiredly.

"Scared?" he teased. Lavi leaded them to a cafeteria, both sauntering as if it was any other common day.

Angel shook her head and felt the damped locks of her hair hit her humid cheeks "Just…astounded" she wryly smiled.

A small bell rang when the singer opened the glass door with Angel still clinging to his arm even when it wasn't necessary any more.

They approached the furthest table and sat down one in front of the other. Lavi took off the red helmet once he made sure no one was paying attention to them anymore, and shook his head, dripping cold drops of water on the table.

A kind waitress appeared then to hand the customers the menus and gawked at the sight of _Lavi Bookman_ sitting there.

"I…C…are you…?"

"If you keep the secret, I'll give you an autograph" Lavi smiled.

The astonished waitress hastily nodded and left them the menus before leaving.

Angel raised an eyebrow at Lavi, the both of them noticing that the employee was continuously darting looks at the male singer.

"You'll have to get used to this" he shrugged feigning interest in the dishes written down in the menu.

"I don't know. Having thousands of girls' eyes lustily looking at _my _boy…"

Lavi giggled "Well, then you'd have to make it clear what is _your _place"

Angel childishly groaned, not convinced with his excuse, but she let it go. Instead, the conversation turned to more serious issues.

"What…where do you think the other have gone?" she weakly asked. "You think they…escaped?"

"I don't know" Lavi grimaced "Yuu is not stupid, even when he seems to be. He'll take care of Izzie-chan. I am sure they both managed to run away. As for the Moyashi and Lenalee, they were in the car that crashed with Tyki's one" he interrupted the reply when the waitress returned to take the orders. Angel noticed how the woman practically ignored her, just eyeing the girl when she requested a glass of water. After she left, Lavi continued "And I don't think they were interested in Allen or in Lenalee, so that only leaves Kanda and Izzie to be the ones in possible problems right now"

There was an uncomfortable silence. Angel didn't know what to think or say. She wasn't even sure if she trusted Kanda enough to entrust Izzie's welfare to him. She recalled the recent happenings with apprehension and regretted not being able to stay and help.

"Don't worry" Angel felt Lavi's warm hands wrapping one of hers and squeezing it reassuringly as he talked "They'll be fine"

But, as if contradicting his affirmation, Angel's phone rang. She took it with her free hand and flipped it open.

She sighed in relief. It was Izzie.

"Hey, where are you?"

"I…Angel, please, don't ask questions" Izzie sounded affected, nervous. Her tone of voice suddenly made Angel think the worst and was about to ask if she was alright when her friend started talking again. "I…please, just call an ambulance. Send it to…the tunnels… I don't know exactly where, but please…please…" her voice was dramatically shaking. Angel heard her deeply inhale and waited patiently for the rest of the sentence "Just…the subways, the one that is near the school. There, I don't know at which exact point, but there is a passage, small, cross it until you arrive to a bigger tunnel… there is" she breathed deeply again "There is Kanda. There's not much time left, just go get him, please, please, hurry…"

"Izzie, where are you? What happened?"

"Don't ask…I gotta go. Don't look for me. Bye"

"Izzie, wa…" but the communication cut. Angel remained with the phone glued to her ear some seconds after her friend had already hung. Then, remembering her instructions and with the ability to rapidly react in these cases, she asked Lavi for the ambulance number and soon dialed it. She gave the indications Izzie had given her before and hung up.

Lavi, having heard all the conversation, got up after Angel had flipped her phone close.

"Let's go" he commanded with a grave expression. He paid for the glass of water and the instant coffee that none of them touched and rapidly signed a paper for the waitress.

* * *

There was a strong ethanol aroma floating in the air he breathed. The continuous beep of a machine someplace at his left just increased the painful throb of his temples.

He was lying in a soft surface, so different from the previous dirty ground where he last remembered to be that he couldn't help but feel disoriented. The light of a shining white lamp trespass his eyelids and he blinked unconsciously without really opening his eyes.

"He is waking up" a sweet female voice murmured. There was some rush of fabric and a few, short steps approached.

There was only one word in his lips, the same he had last pronounced before falling unconscious; and one last image of a young girl's concerned expression filled his mind.

"I…I…" his voice box was somehow lost and for a moment he couldn't remember how he was meant to use it.

"Is okay, Kanda, just take it slow" a male kindly murmured, but the words lacked of sense to his confused mind.

"I…Iz…"

"Izzie" another female at his right completed his expression.

Kanda finally opened his eyes, directing his gaze to the place where he heard the name coming from. His blue pupils landed on a pale face still soaking rain water.

"Where is she?" the bassist asked in a hoarse, low voice. He scanned the room in search of the only face he truly wanted to see, but only found the one of the band's members and Lavi's girlfriend. He sighed and shut his eyes close again, not able to stand any more the bright white light of the hospital room.

It was after a complete minute that he realized that nobody had actually answered his question. The throb in his head grew more painful and overwhelming the most he tried to remember the last happenings. He felt suddenly dizzy, the medications confusing his senses again and everything just collapsed in the vacuum of his mind.

"We have to find her" Allen declared when they thought Kanda had fallen unconscious. Probably the morphine they had applied to him was still too strong for the bassist to regain consciousness for a long period of time. Nobody replied to his claim, not even Angel, who Allen had expected to be the person yearning the most to know her best friend's whereabouts. However, the girl remained silent next to the window, with a thoughtful expression that may have been confused with melancholy and surrender.

The bandages with which the doctors had covered Kanda's left shoulder were soaked of scarlet again, dirtying the white sheets. Lenalee pushed the red button behind the cardiac's monitoring machine to call the nurse and the old woman appeared after a pair of seconds with an assistant and a new set of bandages.

"The paparazzi are harassing our receptionists" the older nurse informed. "Maybe one of you should go and clear things up with them"

"We already said what we had to say" Komui deadpanned, his countenance serious for the first time in what seemed years.

"Well, there are still some unanswered questions in the whole story, sir" the nurse complained "Maybe you should clear them up too"

"We already said what we had to say" the exasperated manager repeated to the nurse, who just pressed her mouth in a taunt line, obviously unsatisfied with the answer, but didn't inquire any further. She instead gave harsh instructions to her assistant, whose hands were trembling just at the touch of Kanda's bleeding chest.

She uncovered the nude torso of the bassist, and her small eyes widened at the sight of his perfect chest and the enigmatic tattoo now covered of dry blood.

"Focus, girl, and clean it" the older nurse scolded. The assistant then cleared her throat and did as said. At the end of the process, they both retired and left a new, white and clean bandage covering Kanda's wound.

It hadn't been as bad as they have supposed when they found the musician almost swimming in a pool of blood. They had given him a few transfusions which helped him regain color, and when the doctors declared the teen was out of danger, they then proceeded to retire the bullet, which fortunately had incrusted in his bone, avoiding it to reach any vital artery or organ.

"What are we doing now? We can't leave Izzie to her fortune" Lavi exclaimed after some other minutes of grave and heavy silence.

"That was what I was saying. We have to find her" Allen backed the singer's declaration.

"But, how? How can we possibly know where they had taken her?" Lenalee's concerned voice said. Her eyes were shinning with desperation tears and she had only one small bruise darkening the left side of her forehead, product of the previous car crash Allen had provoked to help them escape.

"Maybe we can track her cell phone's location; we'll need to ask the mobile company for help" Komui suggested.

"She turned it off. I have tried to call her and it sends me directly to the voicemail" Angel finally spoke. Her eyes were equally full of tears that she neglected to let fall and Lavi noticed the way her hands were uncontrollably shaking. He then reached out and embraced the young girl in a tight hug.

"I'm afraid we can't do much until BaKanda wakes up and explains what happened" Allen reasoned "Until then…" He trailed off, letting his affirmation penetrate everyone's minds.

"They were in the subway station" Lavi said, thoughtful "Maybe we can ask for the records of the security cameras and at least catch the faces of the ones who were following them"

"That's a good idea" the white-haired boy nodded "I guess there are no similar cameras in the tunnel?" It was more an affirmation than a question, but still Allen gave it the tone of one.

Lavi and Komui denied with their heads and Allen sighed. The group hadn't realized how attached they had become to the girls until that moment, all of them terribly worried about Izzie's welfare. Lenalee sat down beside his brother in the loveseat, and Allen leaned against the wall in front of Kanda's bed. Their countenance was the one of a funeral, the ambient almost buzzing from the thousands of thoughts that filled their minds, possible ideas and plans that they realized wouldn't work before they even finished them.

"I'm calling the subway station and giving the declaration to the police" Komui finally sighed and stood up "Stay all here until Reever comes and pick you up. And don't even touch my precious Lenalee" he then kissed his sister in the forehead and left the room.

* * *

James Fletcher was checking his e-mail that same day late night. It was some kind of vicious, or maybe just a tradition, a part of his daily routine so deeply rooted that he couldn't sleep if he hadn't checked what was new in his account.

Last days were awful and non-productive, his inbox full of furious mails of the ones who had followed him through the elections, and some other ones that reiterated unconditional support.

But that night, there was a new mail he wasn't expecting. He re-read the name of the sender, a light of hope suddenly illuminating his day. It had been weeks since the last talk he had had with his beloved daughter and he knew she was truly disappointed and deceived of his actions. He understood the girl's reasons for cutting any communication and waited patiently for her to establish some contact.

With the heart feeling lighter, he clicked the mail and waited for it to completely download.

"Izzie, I knew you couldn't stand angry for so much" he cheerfully smiled and the time the computer was taking to download the email's content indicated him that some image must be attached.

Finally, the bar reached the 100% and he rolled down to check the page.

His heart stopped.

There was, indeed, a picture, but not the one he was waiting.

It was a dark room, the back wall painted with a strange red color. A solitary bulb hung from the ceiling, illuminating the only inhabitant of the devastated room.

Izzie was tied from hands and feet to a wooden chair. She was disheveled and staring at the camera with a tired expression, her face distorted by a black eye and a cut in her lower lip. A stream of blood fell from her jaw-line and wetted the collar of the blue, dirty blouse she was wearing.

Below the image there was one message:

_Retract your declarations and withdraw from the elections if you want to see her alive again._

* * *

A/N: Hate this chapter! I know, it is so damn boring, but I guess it is necessary. Hopefully, next one will have a lot more of action and surprises (I am evil D:)

Kanda didn't die, yay! Truly, I had no heart to kill him, a world without Kanda...can't be a good world.

So, yep, Kanda likes Izzie but he doesn't want to admit it because he can be really pigheaded when he wants to, and love isn't exactly a feeling he neither before felt nor have any interest in, so I guess that it may be normal that he cannot recognize it when he has it just in front of his noses. (Sighs) ~Kanda...

Well, I am really having a hard time deciding if Tyki should rape Izzie or not haha xD: I think he should because then it'd give Kanda a really good reason to kick his damned ass and I truly want to write about it. Not that Kanda has not already got a reason to kick his ass, but the harder he can do it, the best. And I think it'd give the story a more dramatic effect. But, on the other side...c'mon I love Izzie so much and I don't know how she'd handle it T_T and I don't really want to write dirty things at such young age :D hey, I haven't reached the majority of age and I am still innocent! haha

But well, let's see how this turns out.

**Thank you so much** for your support and your reviews guys, I really appreciate it! I know Kanda should have kissed Izzie in the subway, I really wanted it too! But it was still not the right time. You know, if he had done it in that moment, it would have been an action easily confused by Kanda's mind with curiosity and maybe a bit of lust rather than a true feeling. Hope you get my twisted psychology xD

For OMGILoveToOmNomsNoms (did I write it right?) I already answered to your request in a review reply, but I'd like to repeat it here. I am still looking for a way to make the song fit the story, please me patient if it takes a bit of time :D

Thank you again and...LEAVE A REVIEW!

Damn, there was no song


	24. Chapter 24 Road to nowhere

_Innocence Rock Time!_

"So, well, I am truly sorry, hon'" Tyki said in a silky voice. He got up from his seat in front of the laptop he had carried and approached to Izzie's wounded figure.

"But I needed something to impose, so it can cause the great impact" he crouched in front of the chair, staring intently at Izzie's deep violet eyes. He raised a tanned hand and smoothly caressed the side of the black eye.

"Now it comes the best part" Tyki smirked "I'm gonna make you feel a lot way better" he then stood up and leaned over the young girl. Izzie felt his warm breathe tickling her ears, while one of his hands started trailing patterns on her left thigh.

She suddenly felt like vomiting and impulsively jerked away from the singer's touch. Tyki chuckled and sank his fingers in Izzie's leg flesh.

"You _promised _it. Don't tell me you are as honorable as your father" he hissed maliciously to her ear.

Izzie gulped. She had, effectively, agreed with all of Tyki's terms just to save Kanda's life, and she knew from the beginning what her roughly made promise could carry along. But it was a complete different sensation to just say it and think it to _make_ it.

"I hate you" she hissed, charging her voice with all the hatred she could carry. Tyky chuckled again and tried to continue his activities, but the vibration of his cell phone interrupted the intention. He growled and muttered something about impertinence, then answered the call.

"What?" he hastily spat. There was a short reply.

"Now? I am busy"

Another pause for the caller's explanation.

"Alright, I'll be there in five" Tyki sighed. He hung up and darted one sick, terrible look at the girl's terrified expression.

"I'll be back. Don't try anything funny" he then gagged her and left.

Izzie felt her chest fill with relief when the door closed. She let out the breath she had been holding in without noticing and started feeling the different wounds that spread all along her body.

Her wrists and ankles were starting to hurt under the rough touch of the ropes. Her limbs were feeling numb, while fresh blood streamed down her lip and her neck.

She tried to release her hands. Her finger moved freely and she twisted them as far as she could to reach some extreme of the rope and pull it, but the more she moved, the tighter the grip on her wrists became. The same happened with her feet and she wished she had continued going to the Scouts seven years ago so she could know something about nods and knots.

Izzie, exasperated, started to throw her weight back and forth, and to one side and another, making the chair violently sway until she fell of bruises. The back of the seat hit her nape after her forehead had crashed against the floor.

The door opened again and a pair of hands accommodated the girl and the chair.

"Hey, be more careful, girl" someone cheerfully advised.

"You are not going anywhere doing this" another voice interfered. Izzie recognized them from that night when she was kidnapped for the first time.

She wanted to shout at them, to rant and swear, but the gag drowned each attempt of talking, so she just growled. A hot liquid slipped along her thin nose and she supposed the fell had provoked another wound in her already emaciated face.

"Well, what about another round of poker?" Jasdero smiled to his brother, who just nodded. They both left with long strides, leaving the girl alone in the claustrophobic room.

* * *

Tyki Mikk entered the security section of the subway's offices with long, calm strides. He scanned the room to locate any alternate exits or cameras.

He was completely dressed in black that easily fused his figure with the darkness printed in the walls.

There was a wide room filled with tables, telephones and computers. No soul was present due to the high hours of the night, and Tyki easily reached the farthest door with the sign of 'Camera Room'

Slowly, he opened it, and heard the snores of the fat guard reclined in his chair. Tyki took out the cloth with the chloroform and pressed it against the clueless security guard. The man struggled a while, caught completely off-guard, before ceding to the sedative properties of the liquid.

After collocating carefully the man again on his chair, Tyki examined the last records of the cameras. It took him around half an hour to finally identify the black figures running across one of the platforms and jumping to the last wagon; and his own form hastily reaching the head of the subway, where the control room was, before the entire metallic vehicle disappeared in the tunnel. He located the file in which the video was recorded and rapidly got the number of the DVD where it was saved.

He smirked when the computer threw the DVD to him. After taking the dreadful evidence, he proceeded to erase all data that could reveal their presence in the station.

* * *

"Here is the camera room" an amiable subway's employee pushed the door and guided the police officer and the Innocence's manager to the interior of the small room.

The left wall was covered with multiple small black and white screens. The subway's employee, dressed with an impeccable uniform, requested the security guard to check the video of the anterior day.

They played and re-played the tape recorded that day, but no abnormality was discovered, just the normal pace of the passengers coming and going.

Komui furrowed his eyebrows and watched carefully. He asked for a third reproduction just to obtain the same empty results.

"Are you sure this is the correct video?" the officer asked.

"Yes, here" the guard pointed to the inferior left corner of the screen where the video was being reproduced "you can see the hour and date"

"Wait" Komui lifted his hand and stared intently at the corner "Rewind it"

"I don't think there's a point…" the worker exclaimed, but Komui repeated his request cutting his sentence off. He did as ordered, and stopped the video when the manager said.

"There. Rewind it and play it again. Don't take your eyes off of the hour" the Chinese man ordered.

The security guard and the officer blinked with bewilderment, but followed the instructions when they noticed the seriousness in the manager's countenance.

And they saw it too.

The hour mysteriously jumped from the 3:15 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. o'clock. The difference of hours wasn't truly noticeable; since the flow of passer-byes was practically the same, both hours being rushed moments of the day, and the illumination didn't change due to the big lamps that were on the 24 hours.

The three men remained in thoughtful silence, looking into each other's eyes. There was only one conclusion to which they arrived after a whole minute of astonishment.

"Someone erased the video" the guard said.

"It should have happened between the 7:00 o'clock of yesterday and this moment. Who were the guards in turn at those hours?" Officer Wilson inquired with a concentrated countenance.

The guard searched in a small booklet he had over the desk. There were various work-hours written together with the signature of the employees that had fulfilled that time.

"There's Matt Olsen, he was here last night, and Howard Lee, who has just ended his turn. Their personal data is guarded by the Security Chief; his office is at the end of the hallway"

Komui and the Officer Wilson thanked the employee and headed to the last office of the hallway. After the introduction and explanation of the happenings, they obtained the addresses of the involved guards, and the pair immediately left for the respective houses.

* * *

The constant, irritant beep drifted him away from the nothingness of his unconsciousness. He shut his eyes open and flinched when the bright, white light dazzled him.

Kanda blinked repeatedly until his pupils became used to the new luminosity. His mind was feeling a lot clearer than before and the ideas flowed easily.

The last memories attended the frontal lobe of his brain, and a storm of sounds, images and sensations filled his numb body. Izzie's voice screaming his name rang again in his ears while the ghost of the pain he had felt when the bullet impacted his shoulder made its appearance.

He raised his right hand and touched the sore spot with gentleness. He felt clean bandages covering the wound, and even when it still hurt, it wasn't as bad as he had imagined.

"Hey BaKanda, you are awake from your beauty nap. Finally" Kanda didn't bother to find the source of the exclamation, already knowing the identity of the person for the way he had called him. Instead, he fixated his eyes in the ceiling, thinking back of the recent events.

"Shut the fuck up" he spat.

"I guess I should call the nurse, you are better with all those medications on" Kanda heard the shuffle of cloth and a small groan from the boy when he got up from the couch.

The Japanese scanned the room, surprised by the lack of inhabitants, remembering the last time he had woken up. Allen should have guessed his thoughts, because, while he pushed the button next to Kanda's bed, he answered his unasked question:

"Lavi, Angel and Lenalee went to change clothes to my house. We are taking turns to take a look after you. Damn, this thing doesn't work" Allen pressed furiously the red button, but the known buzz that it was supposed to produce never sounded.

"I don't need babysitting" Kanda declared, annoyed by the unnecessary noise the white-haired boy was making. His head felt heavy and painful, and the least thing he needed was a noisy kid.

"You are welcomed" Allen rolled his eyes "I'm calling the nurse, wait here"

"And where the fuck am I supposed to go?"

"Or jump off a cliff, whatever, I don't care" the keyboardist snorted before closing the door and leaving the bassist alone in the room.

Kanda sighed and closed his eyes again. With one finger, he traced circles on his temple, hoping the pain of his head would disappear with the improved massage.

Some few seconds after Allen had left the room, the door swung open again.

"Didn't you say you were going for the stupid nurse?" he growled.

Someone chuckled "Even in pain, you are insufferable"

Kanda hastily separated his eyelids and scowled at the sight of the man leaning against the closed door.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" the bassist tried to incorporate, but the catheter inserted in his left wrist together with the pain the sudden movement caused to his wounded arm made him stay in place.

"I'd like to say I'm glad to see you too, but I am really not" Tyki placed himself beside Kanda's bed with three long strides. "So petty and defenseless" the Portuguese spat "It'd be so easy to kill you right now, but I never break a promise"

Kanda remembered the words Izzie and the Portuguese had exchanged back in the tunnel, the deal they had reached just to keep him alive. The Japanese musician balled his hands into fists and glared at the unwelcome visitor.

"Where is she? What have you done to her?"

"You both seem to be very fond of each other" Tyki theatrically raised his eyebrows "She is fine, my dear friend, really fine. You know, she is really pretty underneath all those clothes"

Kanda felt his blood boiling, the temperature of his body increased by the immensity of his rage. He reached out in one fast motion, ignoring the explosion of pain in his shoulder and the way the catheter was ripped out of his vein; the wires connected to his chest jumped off their place too and the monitoring machine started to produce a flat beep. He grabbed Tyki's neck with his good hand, tightening his grip with the purpose to make him choke and would have thrown him against the wall if he had felt strong enough.

"Be respectful, boy" Tyki took Kanda's hand and easily undid his grip, shaking it off like if it was a fly "I came here to warn you: don't dare you say anything about what happened. I already have James Fletcher where I want, so there's no other reason beside my own entertainment for keeping Izzie alive. Shut your pretty mouth and you'll have her back"

"You fucking bastard!" Kanda hissed "Don't dare you _touch_ her again or…"

"Or what, Kanda Yuu? She willingly _did it_. And I dare say she truly enjoyed it" Tyki smirked, rejoicing in the way Kanda's eyes glinted with pure hatred and impotence.

The bassist breath had become forced and his knuckles were turning white from the strength with which he was clenching his fists. A string of scarlet ran down his left arm.

"I'm going to kill you!" Kanda jumped out of the bed, but the moment his feet touched the floor, he lost his balance, the world suddenly spinning around. He fell to his knees and the last thing he saw from the Noah was his black shoes walking to the exit.

Tyki strolled down the hallway nonchalantly, covering his head with a white, baseball cap so the white-haired boy and the nurse that were now walking to the room he had just left wouldn't recognize him.

He arrived to the reception, where a pair of women attended the patients. Tyki took out of his pocket a short blue wire and subtly handed it to the same nurse he had talked to before.

"You can connect it again to Kanda Yuu's room. Thank you very much" he then gave the woman a roll of bills and strode to the exit of the hospital before the receptionist could form a word.

* * *

"Oh my…! What are you doing on the floor?" the kind nurse hurried to help Kanda up.

Between Allen and her, they accommodated Kanda back in the bed. The nurse re-adjusted the catheter in a different spot of his hand, since the previous one was pretty damaged from the violence with which Kanda had tear it off, and connected the machines to the bassist's body.

"What were you doing, sir?" the woman scolded "Trying to escape? You know your situation is delicate. You have just woken up, you can't run around like anything happened. You ought to be more careful, if …"

"Shut up" he deadpanned.

"What an impolite fellow! Here" she patted his arm "Don't dare you make any rough moves. I'll send you food and the meds" the nurse stalked away, pretty offended by Kanda's antisocial behavior. It was until the door closed that Allen dared to speak.

"What happened?" the boy asked.

"Nothing" Kanda deadpanned. He instead directed his glare to the window, where the drops of water unceasingly hit the glass.

He thought of Tyki's words.

The idea of Izzie _being _with him in _that_ form made him somehow sick. It was completely ridiculous. He knew Tyki was used to sleep with half the girls in town, he knew about the singer's nature and didn't doubt that he himself had sometime made out with some random slut that had been with the Noah before.

But with Izzie…it felt different. The idea, the remote idea of her having sex with Tyki caused in him an uncontrollably rage. And, even worse: she doing it willingly, just in order to save him. He remembered the scene at the tunnel, the words that reached his ears even when he was half-unconscious. Izzie must have known what Tyki implied in his _'everything'_ speech, so why the heck did she accept? Just to keep him alive?

His chest felt numb. Izzie with Tyki…that couldn't be. That was just…_wrong_, so badly wrong.

Suddenly, he directed his anger to her figure. Kanda recalled Izzie's face, almost finding it between the drops of water that impacted the window, and felt furious, frustrated…betrayed. She was supposed to like him, no? She even wrote a song for him! Then why did she just go and bedded with someone else? And e_njoyed_ it. He once heard that Tyki was a really good lover, had she fallen for his charms? Then what kind of slut she really was?

"Stupid girl" he mumbled.

"What?" Allen lifted his head from the book he was reading.

Kanda changed his phrase to a more practical one "How much time was I unconscious?"

"Almost a day. We found you more or less at this hour yesterday" Allen responded after thinking for a second.

Kanda scowled. In that moment, a nurse entered and left a tray with food and some pills. She advised the bassist to take them just after he had eaten and warned him that he may be sleepy after it, then left.

"Did you call the police?" the Japanese inquired, shredding the chicken with his long fingers.

"Komui is making the investigation with a police officer. They were waiting for you to wake up to give your declaration"

Kanda nodded "Tell them I'm ready" After all, he wasn't going to be intimidated by Tyki's statements. He was taking Izzie back.

* * *

Komui and Officer Wilson, a tall, blonde man with deep blue eyes, knocked at the Machinists Chief's door. The offices of the subway station were becoming familiar to Innocence's manager due to the amount of time he had spent there during the last two days.

The kind old man gave them the name and address they requested after seeing Officer Wilson's plaque. Then, the partner left for the house of Engineer Driver Michael Baker.

"I really hope this interview to be more helpful than the other two" Wilson growled, narrowing his eyes while searching for the street's names in the small signs collocated in each corner.

"Matt Olsen was clearly the one attacked, but he didn't see the person who put the cloth on his nose" Komui reflected.

"Which is pretty useless, because what we need are descriptions and names" The Officer groaned.

"And we have it. Kanda is convinced that Tyki Mikk was the one who shoot him, you heard his declaration"

"He must have been confused, the tunnels are dark. I don't believe a famous man like Tyki Mikk would do something so dangerous and stupid"

"He also tried to kidnap Izzie during our tour" Komui argued, furrowing his eyebrows. "Angel, Lenalee, Lavi and Allen declare seeing him too out of the school"

Wilson parked the car outside a small flat and sighed "Alright, we will investigate what he was doing at that moment" the Officer conceded just to stop Komui's rant and got off the car.

Komui examined the small, ramshackle house. It urgently needed a new hand of painting, and the small garden was full of weeds.

They waited for about five minutes until a man in his late forties answered at the door. He was disheveled, his small rat eyes widened with fear.

"Officer Wilson" the policeman introduced, showing the plaque to the house's owner. "We are looking for Michael Baker"

"It is m-me. Do you need so-something?" Michael stuttered, stirring his hands nervously.

"We need to ask you some questions. Do you mind if we come in?"

"Yes! I…I mean…my…there's a mess inside there…. Amm…we can…talk here, right? Can I offer you a glass of water?" the Engineer Manager darted a nervous look to the other side of the door, into the house, and when the two visitors denied his offer, he immediately stepped outside the flat and closed the door.

"Well, then…what do you want to know?" he asked.

Komui exchange a suspicious glance with the police, who didn't say anything. Instead, he started with the questioning.

"Were you covering your turn in subway 284 between the 15:00 and 20:00 hours of the last Wednesday?" Wilson took a notebook and a pen out, and glared at the machinist waiting for the answer.

Baker hastily nodded.

"The subway of the 15:45, which we have been informed you were driving, had a sudden stop some minutes after its departure. What caused this stop?"

"I…" Baker gulped nervously "the computer indicated that one of the gears was stuck, so the subway was not going to be able to speed more. I had to stop to repair the gear"

"Every morning the engines are revised, am I wrong?" Wilson glared at the engineer. The poor man nodded again before answering.

"It was a rat, it had introduced to the gear during the previous trip"

"Are you conscious, Mr. Baker" Komui interfered. Wilson glared at him; disgusted by the way the manager was meddling in his work, but didn't say anything "That the Japanese musician Kanda Yuu was shot that same day in an adjacent tunnel?"

Baker's eyes widened, but he said nothing.

"In his declaration" Wilson continued "he said that he and a companion were travelling in your subway when it suddenly stopped. Then, a group of armed men chased them down one of the wagons and the pair had to escape using the emergency door. Did you know any of this?"

"I…I truly…had no idea" Baker shook his head. His eyes were widened with amusement and a glint of horror, while his mouth remained opened in a big 'o'

"Don't you watch television, Mr. Baker?" Komui asked suspiciously.

"It isn't working now…I…really had no idea. I'm sorry I can't help anymore" he bowed and apologized sincerely.

"Well…" Komui said once he and the officer were back in the car "Now can we investigate Tyki Mikk?"

Wilson huffed but nodded, after all, it was his work.

* * *

Michael Baker didn't close the door until he made sure that the investigators' car had disappeared from his street. Then, with a heavy relieved sigh, he entered the house and hastily ran to the kitchen, where her wife and his two kids were still held against the counter at gunpoint.

"They are gone" Michael confirmed. The beautiful woman that had intruded in his house smiled and returned her gun to the leather holster.

"Fine. Thank you for your cooperation. We'll keep an eye on you" Lulubell threw a roll of bills to the floor and swiftly left the house.

* * *

"What do you mean with _no proof_?" Kanda hastily claimed after Komui and the useless Officer gave them the ultimatum.

"We called Tyki Mikk's manager and one of his relatives, and they told us what they knew the singer was doing at the hours of the attack. It seems that Mikk entered a meeting in the Earl's Company Building on Wednesday at 1:00 pm and didn't leave until 6:00 pm; and yesterday night, when the tapes were deleted, he was in Celtic's Hotel with a young lady, so he couldn't have been the one to intrude the Security Room" Wilson calmly explained to the infuriated patient.

"And you fucking believe his damned allies?"

"Of course not. We investigated the issue, and discovered that, effectively, he had signed the list of the Earl's Company indicating his hour of entrance and leaving. And his stay in the hotel is registered in the principal files. Besides, there are witnesses that claim to have seen h…"

"THOSE ARE SHITTY ALIBIES! HE IS THE ONE WHO SHOT ME, JUST GO AND ARREST HIM!" Kanda finally exploded, losing the little self-control he had been having up to the moment. The machine at his side started furiously beeping with the increase of his heart's beats.

"We can't do that without proofs. I am sure you confuse…"

"I didn't confuse anything! He fucking _came_ here and _threatened me_. You are useless, I demand having another investigator" the bassist directed his cold gaze to the manager, who was lost in deep thought.

The rest of the band was present to hear the news, and it was clear that none of them believed in the innocence of Tyki Mikk.

"I think you are altered by the meds" Wilson angrily retorted "I'll call a team to look into the matter. Goodnight" he stalked out the room.

"You should be more kind, Kanda, he is helping us as much as he can" Komui softly scolded, but he was still annoyed by the incredulity of the policeman of Tyki's guilt.

"I think we should look into the matter by ourselves" Lavi suggested, interrupting the harsh reply Kanda was about to make. Everybody turned to look at his enigmatic grin.

"What do you have in mind, Lavi?" Angel softly questioned, lifting her eyes to stare at the singer's mischievous expression.

"Allen, you know that guy from the cell phone company, right?" the redheaded ignored her girlfriend's interrogation and instead turned to face the young keyboardist, who just nodded.

"Well, I'd like to talk to him. Wherever Mikk is, he ought to use his phone, so we can easily track him down with some help"

* * *

James Fletcher was in a dilemma, a big dilemma.

He had to decide: his daughter's life, the only close relative he had; or the mayoralty of Atlanta.

If Sheryl Camelot hadn't been his rival, he would probably have ceded to the blackmail. But, since the man was actually his contender, his luck seemed to be mercilessly stretched too far.

Sheryl Camelot had deals with the mafia and James was pretty convinced that the moment the candidate took possession of the mayor's office, drugs and weapons trades were sure to become part of commerce and markets. Hence, he couldn't put a single life, even if it was his own daughter's, before the welfare of an entire city.

He could clearly imagine the youngsters dying from overdoses, and the never-ending street fights. If the rates of brawls and drug-addiction were already alarmingly high, with the city in hands of Camelot it'd eventually get worse.

But Izzie…she was his daughter, his only daughter, and she was so similar to Rebecca, the love of his life, that losing her would be some kind of evil déjà vu of what happened six years ago. An evil game of the destiny that threatened with taking away all the sane left in him and, even worse, taking away the only thing he had been left with to love.

If he lost Izzie, what other reason would he have to keep on living?

Maybe guarding the welfare of an entire city would be enough.

* * *

A/N: I am sorry for another long, boring chapter. But well, I have to explain all the investigation procedure and blah blah, I guess I just saw too much City Hunter. xD

Well, thank you so much for your reviews! They really encourage me! I hope you like this chapter, even when I didn't, but, whatever, next one is going to be better, I promise!

So tell me what do you think! I'm trying to make it realistic, hope it is working (yn)

Kanda, Kanda, why are you so stubborn? Why can't you just admit you like Izzie? TT_TT truly, his pigheadedness is getting on my nerves.

No songs, damn!

Review? :D


	25. Chapter 25 Undisclosed Desires

Chap 25

"So, are you sure we can track him with this, Krory?" Lavi asked while examining the headphones the cell phone company directive had handed him. They were connected to a black, heavy machine with an antenna pointing to the ceiling.

"Of course" Krory, a tall, black haired man with one big white lock of hair covering his right eye, nodded. "This is not precisely legal, so use it carefully. If it wasn't Allen Walker the one who requested it, I wouldn't have acceded"

"And me?" Lavi looked at the man with big puppy eyes –eye-.

Krory chuckled and pointed to the small screen on top of the machine. "It will start beeping when Mikk receive a call, I already typed his number, so is just a matter of waiting"

"Thank you so much, Krory. You don't know how much you are helping us" Allen bowed to the man's direction.

"After helping me getting engaged to my dear Eliade, this is the least I can do for you" the pale man sincerely smiled at him.

"That was nothing" the keyboardist passed a hand through his hair and softly giggled "Just a little chat, you know…"

"However, I'm glad I can pay you back. I have some business to attend, so I'll leave you here" the directive bowed to the men's direction and exited the small room, leaving them alone.

Lavi sprawled in one of the chairs, darting looks back and then to the small screen. "Well" he said "Now let's just wait"

* * *

The door hastily opened and Tyki walked into the room with long strides. He stared at the girl tied up to the chair. Her hair fell to the sides of her head, the relaxed position of her body revealing that she was finally sleeping.

Tyki approached her and hit her head mercilessly.

"Wake up"

The girl growled against the dirty gag that covered her mouth. Tyki took it off with one swift motion and opened the package of cookies he had brought.

"Eat" he inserted one of the cookies in her mouth when she was opening it to readjust her jaw bone.

Izzie spat the food out and coughed. "I'm not hungry" she declared with a hoarse, angry voice.

"You have not eaten anything in three days. Unless you want to starve, eat" Tyki took the cookie from the ground and tried to force it into Izzie's mouth again, but she just greeted her teeth and looked infuriated at him.

"You are disappearing, woman"

"And since when do you care about my health?" she harshly replied. The wounds of before were practically healing, but purple bags were visible under her eyes from the lack of sleep. She was also really thin and pale, just skin covering bones; and it had been only three days…

"Alright, you don't want to eat, huh?" Tyki mischievously smiled and set the cookies aside. He dangerously leaned over the girl with a predator's glint shining in his eyes. "Maybe you just need some exercise to be hungry?"

"You are disgusting" Izzie aggressively snarled, trying to put as much distance as she could between the singer and her.

She hadn't kept the track of days, and when Tyki mentioned the number three, she wondered how much time she could go on like that. She hadn't eaten at all, refusing any food they offered her, only accepting water, and spent most of the time sleeping in that uncomfortable position that made her neck ached so badly. Her temper had become shorter with the pass of the hours and she was not in the mood for Tyki's insinuations, even when he hadn't acted horny nor weird since that first day when that call interrupted him.

Her blood froze when Tyki's lips met her right ear. He softly tuned an unknown song, whispering the lyrics with his silky voice.

_I know you've suffered  
But I don't want you to hide  
It's cold and loveless  
I won't let you be denied_

_Soothing_  
_I'll make you feel pure_  
_Trust me_  
_You can be sure_

Izzie closed her eyes, trying to blank her mind. She wanted to get away from Tyki, she really couldn't stand his contact, but she felt weak and numb. The man kept on singing while one of his hands played with the hem of her dirty blouse.

_I want to reconcile the violence in your heart  
I want to recognise your beauty's not just a mask  
I want to exorcise the demons from your past  
I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart_

_You trick your lovers_  
_That you're wicked and divine_  
_You may be a sinner_  
_But your innocence is mine_

"Get off me!" she finally shrieked when he started unbuttoning the low part of her blouse. Her body was trembling and the horror that she was starting to feel was supplanted by an immensurable anger.

"Hey, I know you want it"

"I don't"

"Listen to me, bitch" Tyki finally lost his control and grabbed Izzie's chin, squeezing it between his fingers. "Your fucking boyfriend alerted the authorities about our little business here, so I'm now just taking revenge. So you can cooperate to make him see what he wins for defying me or we do this the hard way"

Izzie didn't answer, neither really knew what he was talking about, and just spat at him in the face.

Tyki then punched her in the stomach and in the face with his fists. The flavor of blood invaded Izzie's tongue and for a moment her eyes unfocused. The kidnapper then sank his fingers in her thigh, digging his nails in the fabric and her flesh.

Izzie heard a metallic screech, and then a cold blade cut the skin below her right ear. She bit her lip to drown the shriek she had impulsively wanted to give.

After the sharp pain, there was a soft breath, and she could feel Tyki's _tongue _pressed against her recent wound, tasting the fresh blood that was slipping down her neck.

"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU, SICK JERK!"

"Huh? What happened with our deal?" he asked, grabbing the girl's shoulders with unnecessary strength and staring dangerously at her.

"You can take your stupid deal and dig it up your…"

A ringtone interrupted her vulgar phrase. Tyki huffed exasperatedly and stood up, taking the device from his pocket. He scowled when he saw the name of the caller and pressed the green button.

"What?" he greeted.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BLACKMAIL THE ASSHOLE OF FLETCHER!" a deep male's voice screamed from the other side of the line. Lavi flinched at the volume with which he had yelled.

"I did it! I sent him photographs!" Tyki angrily replied.

"WELL, IT DIDN'T WORK! I AM ABOUT TO LOSE THE CASE, YOU FUCKING IDIOT, SO DO SOMETHING! KILL HER, I DON'T KNOW, YOU SAID I COULD ENTRUST YOU THIS, MIKK, PROVE ME I DIDN'T MAKE A MISTAKE!" the candidate vociferated. There was a hysteric note in his speech to which Tyki remained pretty nonchalant.

A spot in another screen with an aerial view of the city started blinking just over the place where the signal of the call came from. Allen scribbled down the location in a paper while Lavi kept on listening and recording the conversation.

There was a sigh and a weak, tired retort "Okay, I'll establish a video-conference now. Make sure Fletcher is online. Bye"

"We have the address" Allen smiled at Lavi when the redheaded took off the headphones.

"And the evidence" Lavi took out the small tape of the machine and put it in his jean's pocket. "Let's call the police and go fetch Izzie"

"I think this will work" Tyki murmured. He acceded to Izzie's Skype account and scanned for Fletcher's direction on the contact list. He clicked his nickname and started the call. Then, he accommodated the laptop so Izzie was clearly visible through the webcam.

"Bastard" Izzie hissed. Tyki growled and slapped her just the moment James face appeared in the screen.

"I…IZZIE! Leave her!" he yelled from the other side of the computer.

"Well, hello, Mr. Fletcher" Tyki greeted. He was wearing a black balaclava, so his features remained hidden except for his golden eyes.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY DAUGHTER!"

"Then just do as I request. Why haven't you withdrawn from the elections?" Tyki accused.

There was no answer. James's lips pursed in a taunt line, his eyes full of guilty and fear.

"Don't…father, just…leave it. You didn't win…just leave it" Izzie whispered. She had wished so much to say those words to her father from the very first moment he confessed his fraud that she regretted the way her voice sounded so weak and broken.

Izzie's claim seemed to touch a sensitive fiber in James. His green eyes suddenly wetted and in his face it could be seen pure desperation.

Tyki knew from that moment that he had him. He grabbed his gun and shoved it in front of Izzie before pressing the canon against her temple. The girl squirmed and trembled under the cold contact of the metal, her eyes widened in terror.

"Here's the deal, Mr. Fletcher" Tyki deadpanned "You call this moment and withdraw from the elections and I'll set your girl free. If you don't, you'll see her die right in front of your eyes"

There was a dreadful silence, like the chilling omen of an awful and painful declaration; the tension of a lifetime decision lingering in the air

Tyki wondered what took Fletcher so much to answer. It was very clear what was the right decision; even he himself would have resigned to the mayoralty if he was in a similar situation. Or maybe not, the point was that the answer was so obvious that it should have been given three days ago, the moment he received the photographs.

But, suddenly, the way Fletcher's countenance contorted revealed that what he was about to do was the most painful thing he had ever done in his entire life. He frowned and gave Izzie one last glance before averting his eyes to one corner of his computer.

"I…I'm sorry. There's no deal" he whispered.

"What?" Tyki couldn't believe it. Did he hear well?

This time, Fletcher seemed to compose and recollect himself. His eyes hardened when he looked to the singer's covered face's direction, and he repeated his words in a firmer voice, avoiding by all means Izzie's amused gaze.

"No deal. I'm not withdrawing" they caught a glimpse of the laptop's keyboard before the screen grew completely dark.

Izzie's heartbeats were so loud and the silence so total that she thought Tyki was able to hear them. She decided to count each painful beat, clearing her mind from other issues, still not believing… was she dreaming?

The sound of sirens disturbed the calmness of the house. It took half a minute for Tyki to understand that they were patrols, and that they sounded too close to be just a coincidence. He cursed aloud and exited the small room where he had kept Izzie. He entered the bathroom and hastily moved the whole-body mirror, behind which a fingerprints scan was disguised of a groove. A secret door opened and he hurried through the underground tunnel that connected with the Noah's manor.

* * *

"Mss. Fletcher, what do you have to say regarding the insinuations that you were the one who shot Kanda Yuu in the tunnels?" a raven reporter made her way through the bunch of hysteric paparazzi and put a microphone in front of Izzie's pale face. She was sitting in a wheelchair and guided to the hospital through the main door, which was full of reporters and cameraman.

"What? Of course I didn't do such a thing!" it was the only question she responded since the others were only regarding her father, and she truly didn't want to even remember the man's name.

A pair of security guards dispersed the crowd to let the paramedics and the undernourished girl pass. Izzie heard the kind ambulance assistant giving one of the doctors a complete report of her state, but she didn't pay attention.

"Izzie! Oh my God, Izzie!" a girl's voice shrieked. Before Izzie could locate the source of the exclamations, a curtain of raven hair blocked her view. She felt the warm contact of her best friend and weakly returned the hug with her thin arms.

"You are alright, I was so worried! Everybody, we were…Oh my, are you okay?" she finally separated and revised her friend's state. She was thinner, almost in her bones, and seemed to have lost as much blood as weight. Her eyes were deep in their sockets, one of them surrounded by the faint green color of a hematoma vanishing, and there were two cuts in her neck, one of them still bleeding.

"I'm fine" Izzie tried to smile. Angel was radiant, as always, with her healthy aspect and cheerful expression, which was darkened at the sight of her haggard body.

"You…haven't you eaten anything?" Angel asked with disbelief.

"I…"

"We'll take you to a room and apply you some saline solution" a kind doctor bent and grinned "You'll soon feel a lot better. Do you want us to call Mr. Fletcher and tell him you are alright? We have been informed of all you have been through" the man seemed to be really concerned, but he hid that behind a wry smile.

It was like if he had just hit in a sore spot. Izzie averted her eyes so neither he nor Angel could see the tears that wetted them at the mention of her father. "No, is okay" she responded. Her declaration seemed to contradict the doctor's wish, but he didn't say anything, sensing the aura that surrounded the patient. Instead, they moved her to a room and requested Angel to wait until they were done revising Izzie.

She went and informed the rest of the crew of her discovery. Lavi and Allen were already back and the new didn't seem to crash them as much as it did to Lenalee and Kanda.

The Chinese singer cried of happiness and soon Angel too. Kanda, on the other hand, opted just for looking outside the window, where it had finally stopped raining, as if the weather decided to celebrate the victory too.

So she was back, but was she the same? He felt relieved, naturally and for his own surprise, but also felt pretty scared of facing the girl. It was ridiculous, because he knew that whatever she had done was done to protect him, but that fact, instead of easing his nerves, just filled him with more anxiety and guilt.

A nurse went to inform them that they were allowed to visit Izzie, and the girls were the first to leave for her room, which was three doors away from Kanda's.

Izzie had no real grave wounds, just some scratches, cuts and hematomas, and the exposed flesh that the ropes had opened in her wrists, which were now cleanly bandaged. A small plastic bag with saline solution hanged beside her bed connected to an IV inserted in her left arm.

The first thing she said in a low voice was regarding to Kanda's state. Lenalee relieved her telling that he was officially out of danger but had to spend another week in the hospital.

"But, how are you? How do you feel?" the Chinese singer kindly inquired.

"I'm fine. Just a bit tired…and hungry. They said they were bringing me some food and water now" the girl answered and frowned, glaring at the door.

"You didn't eat these three days? What is your father going to say?" Angel asked, widening her eyes with horror.

"I…I…let's talk about other thing, okay?" Izzie weakly pleaded. Angel was about to repeat her question and scold the reckless girl, but Lenalee squeezed her forearm and denied, observing Izzie's countenance.

"Well, I think Angel has something to tell you" Lenalee grinned, trying to lead the conversation to more cheerful subjects. "Regarding she and Lavi"

"What?" the girl in the bed blinked, staring at her friend with curiosity.

"Oh, yes, you still don't know!" Angel beamed "We are dating"

"Really?" Izzie gawked "Are you serious?"

"What? You think is not right?"

"What? No, no way, is fabulous! Congratulations" Izzie talked as loud as her rusted voice box allowed her. She hadn't talked much for the last days, just to rant against Tyki, so it felt strange to have to talk with a normal tone again.

"Thank you. He even wrote me a song; do you want me to sing it?" Angel offered, smiling with self-satisfaction.

"Well…yes, why not?" the girl acceded.

"_This is what I look like today_

_And I'm trying not to pull out my hair._

_I was trying hard to gro_"

Angel's sweet singing was interrupted by a nurse, who said that the visit hours were over and that they had to leave.

"We'll come tomorrow, Izzie. Rest" Lenalee bowed.

"Bye bye, Izzie-chan!"Angel followed the female singer, happy that now everything seemed to be in the correct road.

However, there was something about Izzie's smile that didn't seem sincere, and in her eyes there was some kind of deep sorrow that she refused to show. Angel furrowed her eyebrows as she told this to Lenalee, who agreed with her, also noticing the strange behavior of their friend, and decided that they were going to interrogate her as soon as she felt better.

* * *

Kanda had heard the number of room from the nurse's notification. He didn't know what had leaded him to do what he was doing, but now that he was on his way, he didn't feel like returning.

They had taken off the beeping machine that day in the morning since it was clear he was not in danger anymore, so he only had to rip out the IV. He had clenched his teeth and smoothly taken out the needle before exiting the dark room in complete silence.

Now, he was trying to read the numbers in the dim light of the corridor. When he got to the supposed to be correct room, he opened the door and entered in complete silence.

It was dark, but a small light was visible from the bed. He saw the white part of an eyeball turning to see him and distinguished a petite form outlined between the blankets.

He acted down the impulse of the moment, following his instincts without thinking in what he was doing. He reached out in one hasty motion and with his rough hands cupped the girl's head, ignoring the pain it caused to his wounded shoulder. He murmured her name with a hoarse, urgent voice.

She gasped and let something fall from her hand, which Kanda didn't notice, because he was concentrated locating the position of her mouth. When the air she had let out brushed past his nose, he leaned and softly pressed his lips against hers, missing just for an inch, error that he corrected in an instant.

The kiss was almost rude and desperate, the anxiety, anger and frustration of the last days expressed in the hasty movements of his lips against hers.

It seemed to take a few moments for the other person to react, and when she did, she returned shyly the kiss, not sure at all of what to do.

It felt right. He felt right, secure, relieved, and almost happy. He didn't want it to end, but his lungs soon claimed for air.

Kanda finally broke the contact, gasping and trying to see the girl's expression through the darkness.

"Yuu? Is it you?" a known _male_ voice asked.

The bassist froze in place. He scrutinized the person in the bed. Ho..how?

"You came to see me!" Lavi cheerfully exclaimed.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Kanda shouted, a hint of hysteria elevating his voice two octaves up.

He stumbled back, searching with his hands the switch he knew was just beside the bed.

Lavi laughed, and there was something kind of distant in the sound. Finally, Kanda found the switch and turned the lights on.

Izzie flinched at the luminosity and made a visor with one of her hands. She searched with the other something between the blankets and took out her cell phone, from where the laugh came. "Lavi, don't do that" she said.

"What were you doing, huh? Some lovey-dovey time together?" he answered.

"When I see you" Kanda took the mobile off Izzie's hand "I'm gonna take your fucking cell phone and stick it up your fucking ass"

"Oh, don't be so mean, Yuu, if you wanted some time alone with Izzie, you just needed to say it~"

"Shut the fuck up"

Lavi tried to retort, but Kanda pressed the red button and tossed the device on the night bed. He avoided Izzie's eyes, suddenly conscious of the implication of his actions.

Instead, he walked to the loveseat that was in one corner and sprawled there, his head lying on one of the armchairs while his legs were uncomfortably bent and hanging from the other extreme of the couch.

"Hey" Izzie called. He growled.

"Turn the lights off" Kanda ordered and closed his eyes.

"Are you really pretending to sleep there?"

"Don't you have eyes to see it? Or do I need to explain everything to you?" he harshly answered, opening one of his eyes to glare at her.

Izzie sighed and recoiled to one side of the bed. "Here" she patted the free space beside her "That is pretty uncomfortable"

"Are you trying to seduce me after sleeping with Tyki Mikk? I already told you I am out of your reach, woman" the bassist claimed, his voice oozing resentment.

Izzie stared wide-eyed for a few seconds. "I didn't sleep with him"

"That's not what he said"

"You talked to him?" Izzie narrowed her eyes.

"He came to fucking threaten me and said you _enjoyed _bedding with that bastard. If you like him so much, then ask him to sleep beside you."

"And you believed him" the girl huffed "I thought you a bit more intelligent than that, but guess you are the same blockheaded I met. What do you think? That I am some kind of whore? And in case I had actually _done_ it, it would have been just to save your pathetic ass. Goodnight, Kanda" she rolled to give him her back and closed her eyes, without minding at all the lamps.

She heard then the rush of some fabric and the light stopped filtrating through her eyelids. She then felt the mattress plunging under a new weight and Kanda's body brushing her back.

Warmness spread through her chest and for a moment she felt dizzy, even with her eyes closed. The anger and disappointment of before elapsed by his mere presence, closer to her than it had ever been. The kiss of before was still burning in her lips, and she couldn't help but smirk while touching them with one finger.

She was about to sleep in perfect peace, more peace than she remembered to feel within the last month and a half, when an annoying, husky noise flew through the air.

She shut her eyes open and frowned. She had forgotten it: Kanda snored.


	26. Chapter 26 Safe

_Innocence Rock Time! ~_

_How much time it takes to fall in love? A week, a month, a year, how could that even matter now?_

* * *

"GOOD MORNING IZZ….." Lavi's noisy greeting abruptly stopped.

"Jeez, Lavi, I've told you not to yell like that in a hospital" Lenalee scolded from behind. "C'mon, you are blocking the way" the female singer tried to push her companion out of the way, but Lavi seemed to be in some kind of strange shock.

"Holy…" he finally mumbled. "I…I…I knew this day would sometime arrive!" the male exclaimed with tears already dramatically forming in his eye.

Angel and Lenalee looked at each other bewildered and peered around Lavi's sides. They gawked too.

There was only an individual mattress, and over it there was not only Izzie's skinny body resting, as they expected, but also a bigger one. They weren't even in a romantic position –they were back-to-back- but the fact of seeing Kanda actually sleeping beside someone was…astounding.

"This…this is the happiest day of my life" Lavi murmured while sauntering into the room.

"Sh, and when we met?" Angel whispered, annoyed.

"This is the second happiest day of my life" the singer corrected without dropping his dreamy gaze.

"I…Oh my…Kanda" Lenalee finally found her voice to talk, but couldn't form any coherent sentence. Instead, she beamed with glee at the couple, who were still deeply asleep.

"But" Lavi frowned "There's something wrong about them…hmm…here" he approached the bed with silent steps. "Lena-lady, drop an eye on the hallway"

The male singer delicately rolled Izzie on her back, releasing her only when the eyelids of the girl started moving. Angel, who was also trying to make Kanda roll, froze in place until Izzie's expression relaxed again. Cautiously, with Lenalee keeping an eye on the corridor, Lavi and Angel changed the position of the bed's occupants.

Lavi placed Izzie's head on Kanda's chest, who was now lying on his back, and he also accommodated the bassist's wounded arm over the pillow so it wouldn't hurt.

With the same gentleness, he manipulated the Japanese's free arm so it was wrapping Izzie's waist, while she herself unconsciously hugged him back, Angel taking care that the catheter wouldn't hinder the position.

"They are…so lovely" Lavi beamed with wetted eyes, taking out his brand-new iPhone 4 and taking a picture of their own creation. "Next stop: wedding"

Angel smiled widely after taking a photograph too "Of course"

"Guys, the nurses are coming" Lenalee entered the room. Her chocolate eyes widened at the sight of the couple cuddling in the bed. "What have you done?"

"Just gave them a push" Lavi winked. "Let's go" subtly, the three friends exited the hospital's room some seconds before a pair of nurses entered.

"Oh you are here, sir" A young assistant walked into Lavi with concern expressed in her soft features "We can't find patient 109, do you know where…"

"Look inside there" Lavi pointed to Izzie's door with a movement of his head "_Love is in the air~" _

"Ow…alright" the woman nodded with confusion before hurrying to said door, gasping at the sight just the moment she stepped into the room.

"Where's the moyashi? I bet he'd die to see our little Yuu turning into a man" Lavi exclaimed while dialing the brat's number in his cell phone with a huge grin illuminating his countenance. He surrounded absentmindedly Angel's shoulders while waiting for Allen's answer.

Even when it was a casual touch, no romance implicit, Angel felt like electricity running through her veins, starting just in the place where Lavi's body contacted hers. His voice and his smile were priceless to her, and his mere presence still melted the girl's knees. Although it had been already about a week dating him and a month and a half of acquaintance, the fact that the one and only _Lavi Bookman_ stood next to her was as dazzling as the first moment in the concert when he kissed her.

"Hey, Lavi" she called after the singer put the cell phone in his pocket and Lenalee left for something to drink.

"Yes, Angel-chan?" he smirked down at her.

"I…well…I just…" Angel stammered under the glint of his green eye fixated on her. His lips were curved in that faint smile that she loved so much, while he dangerously leaned over her.

"Have anyone told you that it should be illegal to be this gorgeous?" she abruptly blurted, the original words vaporizing in the air.

Why was it so difficult to say how much she loved him aloud? Because four days ago, during their runaway, she had realized that what she felt for him wasn't only a simple attraction or chemical connection. It was way deeper than that, strong enough to make her fear the possibility of him even getting a scratch because of her; of him ever going apart from her; of him ever leaving her by her own: it was a horrible sensation only to imagine themselves being separated. It wasn't just horrible, but it pained her right in the middle of her chest so hard that she comprehended that the expression 'broken heart' was far from being an exaggeration.

When her feelings had grown this way, she couldn't recall. Maybe it had been gradually, evolving from the very first moment when her friend and she were admitted as the personal company of the band. Maybe it grew like that after hearing his last song that he composed especially for her.

Maybe…maybe, how could it even matter right now? The point was that the feeling was there, and the warmness of her soul whenever he was around subtly whispered how deeply in love she was with him.

Only thinking about it that way made her shudder and it didn't help the fact that Lavi had cornered her, his arms blocking every possible escape.

"Yes" he smiled, oblivious to the hundred of thoughts crowding her mind "But it is nice to hear it from you"

"Ahm…I…alright?" she nervously stuttered.

"But that wasn't what you wanted to say, right?" he lowered his voice, leaning his forehead against hers. Angel felt the sweet warmth of his breath caressing her features and for a moment closed her eyes, rejoicing with his simple presence.

"Angel-chan" he suddenly kissed her cheek with gentleness, so sweet and caring that Angel felt her head lifting to the clouds. "I'm the most idiotic person ever"

"What?" Angel shut her eyes open, surprised by the fatalistic tint in his affirmation. She pushed his chest to establish enough distance between them to see his face, but her weak effort was fruitless. Lavi kept the position of before, only moving a bit so that he could whisper in Angel's right ear.

"Panda told me once that love is the worst feeling ever" he stated

"Because it makes you wretched and sad; it makes you worry and care so much about the other person that it doesn't leave any space for self-esteem neither enough selfishness to keep anything for yourself. He told me that love is not the sacred, pink thing Hollywood wants us to see, instead, it is the devil disguised of lamb, because love, after all, leads to the most passionate feelings and passion always ends up in obsession and perversion. Also, when you love so badly without knowing why, the danger is even greater, because you don't know with what you are dealing at all, and ignorance is never bliss, but weakness. And, what's even worse" he dramatically sighed "love leads to a broken heart, solitude and desperation, degrading the human to a small point of pure agony. For so much time, I truly believed this. I saw it every day in Allen's desolated eyes whenever he stared at Lenalee; and I tried so hard not to fall in love. However, right now, with you here, it is like if each one of Panda's words had become valueless, senseless" his hands grabbed Angel's shoulders with much strength, immobilizing the girl against the wall. "Now, I conclude that liking and loving someone is happiness. And even when I am scared, I think I can affirm that I…I…" he trailed off, hugging the girl against his chest instead of finishing the sentence; hoping physic contact would speak for itself.

Angel remained shocked and steel for a pair of seconds, the line of her thoughts cut out by Lavi's simple touch, the words he had said slowly sinking in her brain like hot lava, warming every fiber of her small body.

"I love you" she whispered, finishing his speech for him. The embrace tightened and softly she aimed to release her own arms to surround his waist.

He then kissed her, but not with the same fervency and desperation of before. There was no urgency in the contact neither the recklessness of impulses occasioned by alcohol. Instead, their lips swiftly met, with a tranquil motion that reminded of ice-cream melting in a summer day: sweet and slow.

Angel interlocked her fingers in Lavi's hair, tangling some locks with sweetness. He just cupped one side of her head with his hand, tracing small circles in her cheek with his thumb, while his other arm drew her closer.

It felt right, in place, like if every event had only leaded them both to that exact moment. Without any more worries, knowing Kanda's and Izzie's lives were safe, they finally found minutes and mind to spend in each other.

* * *

"_Mr. Kanda, chist, Mr. Kanda, could you please wake up?" _

Izzie blinked once with her eyelids still closed. There were suddenly a lot of voices surrounding her, increasing the throb of her head.

She complained with a quiet moan and tried to accommodate herself to continue sleeping. She hugged more tightly whatever her arm was surrounding, enjoying the warmth it gave off.

"_Mss. Fletcher is time for your medication" _a hand kindly shook her shoulder, trying to make her wake up completely. There was something about the two voices that were talking that suggested fun, like if they were smiling or about to burst in laughter, but Izzie had no mind to pay attention to those details.

"_Mr. Kanda, the politics of the hospital doesn't approve patients sneaking out their rooms. Could you please…"_

"Oi, I don't care" a harsh mumble expressed from somewhere above Izzie's head. She felt the surface where her head was lying moving up and down with the hoarse complain.

She felt something moving in her waist, hastily squeezing her body against something more. There was the sound of fabric shifting while Izzie's current _pillow _started uncomfortably moving.

It suddenly washed her like if somebody had thrown to her a bucket of cold water. The husky voice that replied before, the way the bed moved, how she was hugging something…

She shut her eyes open and tried to incorporate; pushing away whatever was still trying to hold her tight.

Without noticing, she came face to face with Kanda. They were so close that their noses were practically rubbing each other, the only thing completely visible being their eyes. Violet met cobalt, both of them completely bewildered and confused. There were some giggles around while they came into realization of the awkward situation they were in.

To start with, they were in an individual mattress, so there was hardly a part of their bodies that wasn't actually touching and the hospital clothes were really, really _thin_. Kanda's arm was still surrounding Izzie's petite form while her hands were both lying on his chest.

One, two, three… Three seconds to react.

"HOLY SHIT!"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAH!"

They pushed each other, throwing away blankets and kicking until they both ended up sprawled on the floor, separated by the bed. The nurses hurried to help them, biting their lips to avoid any informal exclamation.

"Mr. Kanda, could you…"

"Wha…" he trailed off, growling instead. The kind assistant helped him up and guided the sneaky patient back to the room while trying to avoid laughing at his embarrassment. His cheeks had a faint hint of pink that no one could have ever expected to see in a man with his character and that only gained one adjective: adorable.

Meanwhile, the other nurse re-accommodated Izzie in her bed, changing the small plastic bag with the saline solution and leaving a tray with breakfast and some vitamin pills. She was quiet, barely reacting to the nurse's dirty insinuations about the scene of before, sinking instead deep in her own thoughts.

She vaguely thanked the woman's attention before she left and used her current solitude to dive in her memories.

Flashes of the night before crowded in her mind: Kanda hastily entering her room, his lips brushing hers, his body next to hers…even his snores were delightful whenever she recalled the recent happenings. Could it be possible? Could all that mean that he really _liked_ her?

The possibilities, the realization…were it true? He kissed her and slept next to her, indeed, but what was that in his language? In hers, it was as clear as a frontal declaration, but thinking about it, there were never words to support that. Everything he had just said was that he was out of her reach, however, he still was the one who kissed her first; he was the one to have the initiative to sleep in her hospital room. Even when everything that came out of his mouth was harsh and deceitful, his actions contradicted all of it, doing exactly the opposite to his affirmations.

But he still kissed her. She couldn't stop thinking about it. He _kissed _her and that was a straightforward declaration, right?

She sighed, a long and quiet expression. Her brain started to feel numb, probably product of the lack of food, so she focused in eating instead, letting her own thoughts vague in her mind.

Unfortunately, they stopped in a very sore point that she was trying to avoid to think in because it sent electroshocks of pain and betrayal along her conscience.

The realization, the words that she feared so much but that were truly inevitable to think of crashed on her, drowning every spark of glee that she could had felt up to that moment.

Thinking back on what had happened was fruitless: it wouldn't change anything. However, she couldn't avoid recalling her father's eyes when he voiced his final decision; the way he had avoided staring directly at her and the pain painted in his features.

She knew it had hurt him, but it still didn't justify his action. He did what she never thought him capable of: _he changed her for power._

It still sounded so ridiculous whenever she remembered his benevolent smile and the way he had raised her after her mother's decease. But, as ridiculous as it could appear, the truth was there, darkening every light of his memory that she could have, transforming every happy recall in a painful one.

Izzie suddenly felt as if she never really knew her father; it was a stranger to her eyes now. The man with whom she had grown and that had taught her everything she knew could, by no means, be the same one capable of sacrificing his most beloved one for the mayoralty of a city.

Still, that was what had happened, and the feeling of betrayal brought tears to her eyes.

She would have gone on rummaging about that special issue if Angel, Lenalee and Allen hadn't entered her room. There was a special glint in Angel's eyes that didn't passed unaware to her, still, Izzie let the conversation flow in random subjects, barely taking place in the discussion neither making her typical opportune commentaries.

"Hey, Izzie-chan" Allen summoned out of nowhere after an awkward silence "Congratulations" he winked in her direction cryptically, giving her a thumbs up.

"For what?" she blinked, confused.

"For getting Kanda-san, of course!" Lenalee chuckled "We never thought he would ever fall in love"

"Wha…what?" Izzie stammered. Did they…did they see them? Did the nurses say something? The scene of before, the awkward position Kanda and she had been in…

"Oh, right, you hadn't seen it" Angel beamed and she took her cell phone out while approaching to her best friend "Here, you were so lovey-dovey!" the girl handed the mobile to her friend, pointing to the photograph of the screen.

"Wha…wha…aahh…..ANGEL!"

"What?" the girl innocently blinked, and rapidly put her cell phone away before Izzie did something really bad to it.

"Erase that!" Izzie ordered. Her cheeks were crimson again and her voice rose with hysteria.

"But you look so cute together~ I'm gonna print it and put it in a frame and…"

"Angel, no!"

"But why not? I bet your children would like to…"

"ANGEL!"

"Amm, excuse me?" Komui shyly opened the door, interrupting the discussion for a moment. "Can we come in?" he pointed to his companion with his thumb and a tall man with blonde her nodded in their direction.

"Yes, yes" Izzie agreed, hiding her head in her arms so they wouldn't see his blush.

"Wait wait, see" Angel ran into Komui, shoving her handphone in his face. The manager accommodated his spectacles to appreciate better the photograph. "Wow, congratulations, Izzie" he nonchalantly said.

"We are not here to discuss your love life" the police officer angrily exclaimed. He was visibly frustrated and in a rush, so everybody shut their mouths and let him talk "We need your declaration of the happenings, miss, so if you could tell us what happened…" Officer Wilson took out a small notebook, a pen and a recording machine.

* * *

"You" the fat man in the head of the table smirked, pointing at one of the sides. The young occupant of the seat took out from his mouth the cigarette and pressed it in the ashtray in front.

"I know" Tyki grimaced "You don't like smoking here. I had a bad day"

"And you don't need to tell us, we all know" the Earl smiled widely with no happiness at all. Instead, the expression turned out to be kind of terrifying.

"Tyki Mikk~"

"Screwed it up~"

The twins sang at the same time, grinning at the accused Noah.

"Shut the fuck up, you didn't do anything productive" he retaliated.

"Hey! We kept the eye on her while you had fun in those hotels!" Jasdero exclaimed.

"They were the damned alibis, you, idiot"

"Shush, kids, calm down" the older man ordered, still wearing that horrible smile "But they are, right, Tyki, kid" he turned to face Tyki Mikk, his grin suddenly turning into an infuriated expression "How dare you let her live?"

"The police were out of the house, I had to flee" Tyki excused himself, but even it sounded like a lie to his own ears.

"Just one shot, Tyki, how much time that would have taken?" Lulubell nonchalantly commented, blowing absentmindedly her just painted nails.

"Ewk, Lulu, take that off the table" Debitto pointed to the bottle of nail polish "It stinks"

"Give me some, Lulu" Rhode Camelot extended her hand to the bottle's direction, which Lulubell passed over the table.

"Kids, kids, pay attention!" The Earl slammed the table and grinned at them all, who just stayed ecstatic, observing the monumental man.

"Tyki, that girl is probably accusing all of us for the crime" the Earl gave Tyki a withering look "And the stupid of Sheryl is probably on his way to jail, we can't save him now. So here's what you are doing" he stopped talking, glancing to each face in search of any reaction. They were all serious and attentive, so he continued talking.

"You are hiding abroad, in different countries; I already talked to the mafia members worldwide, and they'll be in charge of creating you a completely new identity until everything here calms down" he declared. There were uncomfortable looks across the table, but he utterly ignored them "No more Noah's Ark from now on" the Earl declared.

"What? You can't do this man!" Jasdero stood up, but sat down again under the Earl's withering look.

"We were just nominated for a Grammy!" Debitto complained.

"NO-MORE-NOAH'S-ARK" The Earl raised his voice "Thank Tyki for that"

Both twins sent murderous glares to the singer's direction, who just avoided them like if they didn't exist.

"Can't you just manipulate the judgment as always?" Lulubell inquired.

"No, they have irrefutable proofs, we can't risk. So, you will part tomorrow, get everything ready" he stood up from the table and exited the room with his creepy smile, Rhode stepping on his heels.

"Well done, Mikk" Jasdero snorted, leaving together with his brother. Lulubell stood up and silently followed them without any word to the singer.

Tyki leaned back in his seat without any desire to stand up. He lit up another cigarette and brought it to his mouth while thinking.

It was truth. Why he didn't kill the girl? Did he have an access of sudden mercy and sympathy? Because, now, when he thought of the moment of Fletcher's decision, everything he remembered was feeling pity for the young girl in the chair, who just stared numb at the computer's screen.

Maybe it was because he felt identified. After all, his parents also exchanged him for a life in the top of the Portuguese mafia, so he could understand the feeling of betrayal.

However, that girl didn't mean anything to him beside just a game or a toy, so, why did he display such sentimentalism towards her?

He sighed and ran a hand through his messy curls. How could that even matter now? He thought about killing her in that moment, but probably it was useless. What was done was done; however, he promised himself that he was going to kill her whenever he had the chance to return to the US.

Yes, that was surely going to happen.

* * *

A/N: So, bye bye, Noah's Ark. But not for so long, probably they'll come back in our INNOCENCE ROCK TIME SEQUEL!

I think it is almost decided, I am definetely gonna try to write this sequel, I have half of the guideline already made in my head. But well, I'll say no more. Still, if you think making a sequel would be too much, you can make me know. I am not sure how many of you will follow me through it, even when some of my reviewers enthusiastically agreed with the idea, you can see, a part of me if still unsure.

Well, there was no song, damn it. I think this is kind of a filler...I gotta say, at the beginning, I didn't know what the hell I was doing xD But well, I think it ended up okay.

Do you think I made Lavi's and Angel's feelings evolve too fast? Because I do feel like that happened, but, still, they did love each other before the declaration...hmm...I don't know, I was trying to make their relationship deeper, but the result didn't satisfy me completely. Or maybe it is just that right now I am going through some kind of depression, my mood has not been exactly cheerfull there last days.

Well, I wanted Izzie and Kanda react like that...because I couldn't imagine another way and it was funny, at least for me. Let's see how their relationship goes on...

Thank you for your support and reviews, you are all so awesome for following me up to here! I never thought I could actually have followers, some of you even started reading my other fanfics, thank you so much. *bows* (as you can see, I am kind of sensitive right now)

Well, I know I said I was updating every Sunday, and today is Saturday night (I sound like an antisocial who couldn't go out u.u don't blame it on me, my dad broke his leg and I had to stay at home to take care of him, he is way too old for babysitting, but well, the world is unfair) but well, for the ancient jewish (I don't know if the actuals too) a day started just after the twilight, so, technically talking and for the ancient jewish, today is already Sunday!


	27. Chapter 27 Vulnerable round two

_Innocence Rock Time~_

"GOOD MORNING, YUU~ READY TO LEAVE THE HOSPITAL?" Lavi jumped into the bassist's room, subtly followed by the quiet presence of Allen.

"STOP BEING SO NOISY, FUCKING RABBIT!" Kanda rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. He pretended nobody was there, but, damn it! Lavi made noise just by walking.

After two weeks of annoying enclosure in the hospital, Kanda was told that he might be able to leave the health center within the next three days. His arm had miraculously recovered almost all the mobility without the need of any rehabilitation exercises. The rapidity of the recovery amused the doctors, who considered him as an exceptional case, but for Allen, Lavi and Lenalee who knew of his abnormal capability of healing with supernatural speed, it was just another normal recovery.

"What do you have there, Yuu-chan?" Lavi extended his hand to take a piece of paper that was resting on Kanda's lap.

"Hey! Don't!" the patient tried to retire the paper from Lavi's reach, nonetheless, the singer blocked his attempts with one arm and jumped back with his small trophy.

"GIVE IT BACK!" Kanda yelled. He tried to stand up from the bed until a current shock of pain washed his arm from the shoulder to the elbow when he rested more weight in it than advisable.

The male bassist slumped onto the bed with a growl, scowling deeper when Lavi's excited and noisy exclamations came out after reading the sheet of paper.

"This is Izzie-chan's song! But, the other verses aren't hers, they sound like…" Lavi smoothly trailed off, his countenance acquiring the spark of sudden comprehension. "OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD! You are continuing her song! This is so romantic~ The both of you writing a love song together! Oh, I can hear the wedding bells coming~"

"Shut the fuck up! It is only made for professional purposes" Kanda crossed his arms in front of his chest stubbornly, but the hint of pink in his cheeks gave him away.

"So you finally got straight, BaKanda" Allen teased.

"For your own disappointment, Moyashi, I have always been straight" the bassist snorted.

"Shush, shut, let me read this aloud…oh my, this is so transcendental!

"_I know you may be scared_

_And I know we are unprepared._

_But I don't care_

_Tell me, tell me, _

_what makes you think that you are invincible?_

_I can see it in your eyes that you are so sure_

_Please don't tell me that I'm the only one that's vulnerable_

_Impossible" _Lavi tuned the first part. "Oh my, Yuu, you even added musical notes ~" he continued his unsteady after the short observation.

"_Stop now girl you're not going anywhere  
just wait around and see  
maybe I am much more, you never know what lies ahead  
I promise I can be anyone, I can be anything  
just because you were hurt doesn't mean you shouldn't bleed  
I can't be anyone, anything I swear I can't be what you need"_

"Hmm…" Lavi rubbed his chin with one finger thoughtfully. "There's something wrong here, if I can…Allen, toss me one of your pens"

Allen took one pen from his pocket and threw it to the singer. "If you are ruining it, I want to participate too" the Brit smirked. He placed himself beside Lavi in the loveseat, utterly standing Kanda's glare.

"What about s_low down girl_ instead of _stop now girl?_" the redheaded searched for Kanda's eyes. He was still wearing a scowl that promised blood running, but blinked at the mention of the change, which was synonym of approbation to Lavi. The singer crossed out the original letters and scribbled over them the change made.

"You sound like a pathetic jerk with that last sentence. Oh, wait, you are actually a pathetic jerk" the white-haired boy grinned.

"And you are a fucking bean sprout with no personality, charisma or physics"

"Oi, stop fighting. Allen is right, maybe a change here… _I can be anyone, anything. I promise I can be what you need"_ Lavi read out loud while making the change "This is a love song, Yuu, make it sound like that"

"I never said that is a damned love song!" the bassist retaliated just to be ignored by the other two musicians.

"I like it for the bridge" Allen commented reluctantly. "Kanda is finally growing up"

"Which, obviously, you are not" the said man snorted.

"I can't focus guys!" Lavi expressed. Then, his face illuminated "Hear this: _I was born to tell you I love you" _

"Isn't that a song already?" the younger boy asked.

"_I get a B in originality"_ the singer tuned out. "Perfect!" he wrote down some more lyrics before Kanda snatched the paper away from him.

"Oww, Yuu is bad, bad! He is bad with me!" Lavi dramatically cried. He jumped to surround Kanda's neck with his long arms, squeezing the bassist's body "After all what we have gone through! After all those special moments, don't they mean anything to you?"

"What the fuck are you talking about? Don't touch me!" Kanda tried to release himself from the tight embrace while Allen started taking pictures. "What the fuck are you doing!" he snapped to the teen.

"They are worth like a hundred bucks on the Internet" the Brit creepily smiled.

"Why don't you fucking sell photographs of _yourself _in the pedophile market?" Kanda snorted. "Oi, GET OFF ME, YOU, IDIOT!"

"BUT I LOOVEE YOUUUU~"

"What are you guys doing?" Lenalee blinked at the scene in front. Behind her, Angel and Izzie were standing in the door way watching bewildered.

"SPREADING LOOOVEEE ~" Lavi happily sang, tightening his grip around Kanda's neck.

"YOU ARE FUCKING ASPHIXIATING ME!" the Japanese panicked.

"Okay, I'll let you go just because I don't want Izzie to get jealous. I know I'm sexy, but you just can't have me, Yuu"

"And who fucking would ever want to have you?" Kanda retorted, rubbing his neck. He walked back to lay down in the bed when he saw with the corner of his eye Lenalee picking a sheet of paper from the couch.

"Holy shit, no!" Kanda stumbled to get near the female singer and would have taken the song away if Allen hadn't tackled him over the cushions of the loveseat. "My fucking shoulder!" He ranted against the keyboardist to what he only grinned wider with pleasure.

"_and I know you may be scared  
and I know were unprepared  
but I don't care_

_tell me tell me_  
_what makes you think that you are invincible_  
_I can see it in your eyes that you're so sure_  
_please don't tell me that I am the only one that's vulnerable_  
_impossible_

I_ was born to tell you I love you_  
_isn't that a song already?_  
_I get a B in originality_  
_and it's true I can't go on without you_  
_your smile makes me see cleare_  
_if you could only see in the mirror what I see_

_slow down girl you're not going anywhere  
just wait around and see  
maybe I am much more you never know what lies ahead  
I promise I can be anyone I can be anything  
just because you were hurt doesn't mean you shouldn't bleed  
I can be anyone anything I promise I can be what you need" _she read.

"Why the fuck do you all have to read aloud?" Kanda growled from underneath Allen's pressure.

"That's not the song you wrote, Izzie? Well, the first part" Angel inquired, looking curiously at her friend.

Izzie blinked. She got out of the hospital after four days under medical observation. His condition wasn't delicate, just a little of malnutrition for the three days of fast and slight injuries.

After her first night in the hospital, she hadn't directed a word to Kanda besides the courteous inquires after his health. They never had had truly a time on their own to talk about the happenings of that day, not to mention their feelings, and it even wasn't like if they were in a relationship now. Kanda didn't make any attempt to repeat the kiss; instead, he acted like if anything had happened. Maybe just a little of indifference towards Izzie, which just confused the girl more.

"Amm…yes…but the other verses…" she snapped back to the present time.

"Kanda wrote them!" Lavi pointed an accusatory finger towards the bassist "He wrote them for you because he loves you so badly that he can die of love!"

"STOP PUTTING WORDS IN MY MOUTH, RABBIT!" Kanda exclaimed, a hint of hysteria tilted his voice as he released from Allen's weight and rubbed his wounded arm.

"But you said it! You even kissed her that other night!" Lavi defended his point.

"…THE FUCK? FUCKING STALKER!"

"You knew it?" Izzie hastily inquired. Her face was turning crimson and she tangled a lock of hair around her finger nervously.

"Wait, I was just kidding… oh my, did you actually _kiss?_" Lavi's only eye widened. Angel gave a start, darting looks between Kanda's slightly flushed expression and Izzie's startled face.

Izzie stared at Kanda, waiting for him to answer. She wanted to know if the matter really meant something to the bassist or if he had only acted under an attack of recklessness. The fact that he seemed completely nonchalant to her presence was obsessing her, twisting her thoughts, sending them back to the brush of his lips, the warmth of his touch…

Did he feel in the same way? The song, did he really write it? Because it didn't sound like something Kanda Yuu would make, maybe it was just Lavi's creation. She felt overwhelmed, but, well, lately she felt overwhelmed all the time, not only because of the doubt about Kanda's sincerity, but also because of her father's activities.

Three days ago, just before she got out of the hospital, a phone call arrived to her room. She contested it, curious but suspecting the identity of the caller, and hung up the moment she heard Fletcher's voice. She refused to have any kind of contact with him, and when her friends announced her the breaking news of Fletcher's victory in the judgment, Izzie gave a mere growl.

She knew that sooner or later she'd have to speak to her father, but, meanwhile, avoiding any kind of contact with him was somehow a relief. At least, that way, she could play the role of impassiveness to not break down; at least, that way, everything could seem like a bad dream instead of reality, because the moment she touched the subject with her relative, reality would crash unto her mercilessly, bursting her bubble of mental protection. If she didn't talk about it, then it was like if it had never happened, and that was her resolution up to that moment.

"Silence is worth a thousand words. Oh my, you really kissed!" Lenalee happily beamed, bringing Izzie back to reality. The girl seemed absent lately.

"No, we didn't" Izzie sighed when it was obvious that Kanda wasn't giving an answer.

"Yes, you TOTALLY DID!" Angel smiled "Why didn't I know anything?" the girl scolded her friend.

"Because it never fucking happened. The usagi is making up senseless shit" Kanda spat. He stood up from the couch and approached the bed, where he laid.

For some reason, this hurt Izzie, however, she endeavored to keep a perfectly straight face. She'll rummage about it later, when she get to be alone.

"Don't try to hide it~ When did it happen? The night before you slept together? Huh huh?" Lavi pressed, pocking playfully Lavi's cheek.

"_Nothing_ happened. Now get your fucking ass out!" Kanda snapped, hitting Lavi's hand away from him.

"Ow, but Yuu…"

"Out!"

"Yuu, don't-"

"Out"

"But I love you! I'm trying to arrange your matrimo-"

"OUT!"

* * *

"Mr. Kanda, why were you shot?"

"Mr. Kanda, is it true you were defending Mss. Fletcher?"

"Mr. Kanda, how did you find your time in the hospital?"

"Mr. Kanda, can you say some words to your worried fans?"

"Mr. Kanda-"

"Mr. Kanda- here"

"Mr. Kanda, wait"

"Mr. Kan-"

Kanda managed to make his way to the principal doors of the school between the hordes of reporters and insistent journalist. Komui had already said everything that was needed to say, so why couldn't they just leave him alone?

It was his first day of school after the incident. Lavi, Angel, Lenalee and the others went back just after he was declared out of danger and Izzie left the hospital.

He didn't expect the harassment. Or maybe yes, but didn't think much about it. The entire school body suddenly seemed really preoccupied about his health condition rather than his celebrity status, which, in Kanda's eyes, was pure hypocrisy.

"Yuu~" an extremely annoying voice rose from the wave of female students that started surrounding the male. "Yuu, come come come"

A red head moved between the multiple bodies "Sorry ladies, sorry, sorry, singer coming, I'm borrowing your man for a moment, alright?" Lavi winked to the audience. Half of the girls fainted while the others sighed dreamily. Taking advantage of their distraction, Lavi dragged Kanda out of the horde.

"What the fuck do you want?" Kanda inquired when they were in an empty space of the corridors.

"You're very welcome, Yuu" Lavi rolled his eye "I am your savior and I don't even receive a 'thank you, best friend of mine'?"

"Oi, stop being fucking dramatic. If you just brought me here for this…"

"No, wait" Lavi tugged Kanda's sleeve to avoid him from stalking away "Just to tell you that we are meeting in the Black Order headquarters after school. We gotta start writing the new songs. Take that one of yours"

"Which fucking one? Couldn't you tell me in another moment?" Kanda snorted.

"Oh, stop being so killjoy" Lavi grinned and patted Kanda's cheek. The bassist instantly jerked away from the other's hand. "In fact, there is a reason for me calling you now. I'd like if you finish that song in collaboration with Izzie. That'd be so romantic! Imagine the press and…" Lavi's eyes sparked.

"Why the fuck don't you write a song with your girlfriend?" Kanda narrowed his eyes.

"Because I am writing one song _for _her, not _with _her, unlike you, who are so cold-hearted that need help from your lovely princess" the bell rang in that moment, and before Kanda could actually smack Lavi or something, the redheaded sauntered away with his mischievous smirk. "Go to the music room after class! Komui is the one who requested the song, so be professional. Izzie-chan will be waiting for you~" Lavi grinned and disappeared round a corner.

* * *

Angel walked to her classroom. There were still some minutes left before the bell rang, but she wanted to get her things meticulously prepared before classes started. Now that Leverrier was about to have enough time to call her back, Angel wanted to get good notes so she could convince her stepfather to let her finish her studies with the rest of Innocence's band.

The time spent with Lavi had been the best time of her life up to that moment. The experiences were valueless and now that everything seemed to be in the right way, the least thing she wanted was leaving.

Being in a relationship with Lavi was the accomplishment of a lifetime dream. It still didn't feel real whenever he touched her or kissed her; and she was always apprehensive about the fact that maybe all of that would blow off if she moved too fast or too slow. It was like standing on the edge of a cliff: she felt fear and excitement, and the adrenaline that made her feel alive for the first time in her life, and all of that had the flavor of glory.

Angel happily whistled, so lost in her thoughts that didn't notice the janitor's door hastily opening. Suddenly, a hand covered her mouth at the same time that she felt her body being pulled to the small room.

She struggled, screaming against the skin that muffled her sounds. Darkness filled her eyes and heavy breaths surrounded her. A bulb in the ceiling was turned on, and Angel turned to see her attacker.

Her leg was half raised to kick whoever had kidnapped her when her eyes came across a delicate face.

It was a girl, a blonde student that she immediately recognized as the one that was kissing Lavi that other day.

"Listen here, bitch" the blonde spat "I don't know what you have with Lavi, but just get away from him. He is mine"

"I…I don't know what you are talking about" Angel stammered. Lavi and she hadn't still made their relationship official, how could she know?

"Don't try to fool me, I've seen you walking with him, holding hands. I repeat, you don't know who I am, so get away from him" Melanie threatened. Her long fingernails pointed to Angel's face to make more emphasis in her words.

"Bu-but I don't want" the raven girl weakly retorted, taken completely back by the request.

"I'm not asking if you want or not, I can make your life impossible if you don't obey me. I know everything about you, Angel Leverrier, that your father is corrupt and…"

"He is not corrupt!" Angel defended. Her face got heated by the accusations against her father. She couldn't stand them, it was not true! Leverrier had saved her from the streets, how could he be accused of being like that? Melanie was not the first one to mention that, it was once even mentioned by Atlanta's local press, but that was all bullshit, right? A man that she looked up to couldn't be like that. Of course not.

Melanie raised an eyebrow "Don't you watch the news, girl? Well, I don't care; just get away from Lavi if you don't want to get your social life ruined forever, _capicci?"_

The blonde girl stalked out the janitor's room without waiting for an answer. Angel sighed.

No, her father was not corrupt.

* * *

A/N: I know, this feels like a filler...maybe it IS a filler, so I am truly sorry for that. I had a tough week and only started writing yesterday night and finished now, and I gotta say I didn't have that much of an imagination. I am so sorry for this crappy chap, promise next one is going to be better!

So well, tell me what you think! The song here is Vulnerable by Secondhand Serenade, I used it in a previous chapter and re-took it now. If you wanna recommend a song, then you can do it too! Maybe I won't be able to use it here, because, sadly, Innocence Rock Time is reaching to an end, but I promise I'll do my best to make it fit in the sequel, which is gonna be named Attached Strings, btw. So, click that button!

So...what song do you think Lavi is writing to Angel? Oh, that's a surprise my dear friends, but you can make your guesses! :D So, what about a review? To cheer me up?

Also, thank you to those ones who started reading Camera Flash, you are so great! *bows* thank you, and for those who hadn't started reading it...well, you can take a look and tell me what you think :D

Thank you again for all your support! What about hitting the 100 reviews?


	28. Chapter 28 Making bets

_Innocence Rock Time~_

"Are you okay, Angel-chan?" Lavi asked, staring at his girlfriend curiously.

Angel kept on looking distractedly to her feet with the same doom aura that had been lingering to her the whole day. It was so notorious and uncommon that Lavi started worrying just after seeing her in the recess, but didn't really had the chance to talk about it until the end of the classes.

Groups of students who made their way to the exit doors passed them nonchalantly, not impressed anymore by their presence; maybe just one or two dazed glances towards the famous singer from the females, and cold glares for his companion, but no more.

"Angel-chan?" the redheaded tapped the girl's shoulder to catch her attention. Like coming out of a dream, Angel shook her head and finally encountered Lavi's eyes.

"I'm sorry, I was distracted" she forcefully smiled. "Did you say something, darling?"

"Is there something wrong?" Lavi frowned while trying to read the expression hidden behind her brown eyes "You seem kind of serious and down" He surrounded her petite form with one arm and clasped the girl to his side reassuringly without stopping their strides.

"I'm fine" Angel hugged him back with a grin "I was just distracted. Let's go see how Kanda and Izzie are doing"

"Really? You know you can tell me" he affirmed softly. His voice, however, was accompanied with some kind of inexplicable disappointment. His eyes –eye- flickered on her for a moment, trying to decipher the reason of her depressing behavior.

Angel bit her lip unsurely before speaking "Lavi," she paused, not knowing how to continue. After a deep breath, the question that had been fluttering around her thoughts after Melanie's threat came in a rush to her lips "Why me?"

The singer stopped walking. "What?" he exclaimed, taken aback by the sudden question. He fixated his gaze upon the girl in front, who had stopped along with him.

"What kind of question is that?" he questioned to himself after she had repeated her previous words.

"Just wondering" Angel shrugged "I mean, there are a lot of pretty girls queuing behind you, you flirted a lot with them during the tour but never seemed to get really attached. And then you come to me and write a song and tell you like me, _love_ me-" she stopped for air. Her hands were slightly trembling at her sides while her eyes kept glancing to the floor.

To Lavi's eyes, she seemed now so defenseless and unsure, nothing compared to the cheerful girl he once met. It crossed his mind only then that, behind all the smiles and jokes, there was a needed girl who never voiced how she really felt regarding any pitiful feeling. Now that he remembered, or, better said, tried to remember, he never saw her dramatically crying at all, just those lonely tears that slipped down her cheeks during Izzie's reclusion.

With a wry smile of comprehension, he reached out and softly clutched her to his chest.

"I don't know the answer" he responded sincerely "It just happened. I guess I never really noticed when I started feeling this way about you, when I realized it, I was already into you. Why you?" a diverted snort escaped his lips "Because that's the way it got to be"

"That answer…" she started to say against his clothes.

"Is stupid, I know, but that's all I've got" he then bent a little, without releasing the embrace, to whisper in her ear "I've never met anyone like you before. You are different, just different. That's the closest thing to an answer that I have"

"Can we go on a date?" Angel shyly asked after a moment of silence.

Lavi chuckled and broke up the hug but left his arm rest on his girlfriend's shoulders, sensing that the atmosphere around his girlfriend was lighter. "Aren't I the one supposed to ask it?"

"You are taking a long time" Angel responded with a reproach tone which only made Lavi's grin grow wider. Slowly, she seemed to recover her previous mood; or maybe it was just that the poker face was finally working. Lavi worried about this last possibility, but decided that he better let it slip and talk about it in a more private place or, in any case, if he couldn't get her to understand why he loved her by words, maybe it'd be better just to let his actions speak for themselves.

"I know, I'm sorry" he said "Where do you want to go? Oh, no, wait, don't say it" they turned a corner and got into another hallway, utterly ignoring the glances everyone darted to them.

"It's gonna be a surprise~" the male singer happily tuned, slightly swaying to the sides. "Friday night, don't make plans, Angel-chan!"

"And with whom else I am supposed to make plans, huh?" she joked. Around them, she could notice the hatred glares that some students gave her. Collecting all the composure she thought she had, she stood all of them without saying 'peep' and tried most of the time to pass unnoticed. Unfortunately, being invisible was kind of difficult when it was Lavi Bookman the one you were walking with, so she just avoided all female eyes and went back to staring at her feet instead.

* * *

Kanda opened the door silently and stepped into the Music Room.

A female figure with long black hair was writing down something in a paper that she had on top of the piano, which keys she was softly pressing as if groping for an undiscovered melody.

Kanda cleared his throat audibly to announce his arrival. He expected the girl to turn around and see him, but she remained impassive and focused on her work.

He growled for his insides and grabbed a guitar from a corner. With one aggressive movement he snatched the paper away from the girl to take a look at it.

_Share with me the blankets that you're wrapped in –C, F_

_Because it's cold outside, it's cold outside-C, F_

Below those verses, the rest of the song was cleanly written down with cursive handwriting. Some musical notes were scribbled as side-notes, some of them crossed out while other ones, like C and F, were circled.

"What shit is this?" Kanda asked.

"The song, what else?" Izzie acidly snapped. She took the paper off Kanda's hands with one fast motion and placed it onto the piano again.

"Oi, I need it!" the bassists extended his hand to grab the song, but Izzie merely smacked it the moment it appear in her field of vision.

"I'm working in it, so don't bother" the girl said snappishly. She grabbed a pen and scribbled down another pair of verses which she clumsily rehearsed with the notes on the piano.

"Fine" Kanda took again the paper to examine the new sentences.

"I told you not to do that!" Izzie reproached. She tried to reach the piece of paper; nonetheless, Kanda wisely moved it away from her hands.

"We are supposed to work in it together, woman, so stop bitching around" he retorted.

"I can do it perfectly alone, alright? Just leave" she moved forward to catch the song, which Kanda elevated over his head and out of her reach.

"Kanda!" Izzie exclaimed after fruitless endeavors to retire the paper away from the bassist. "Give it to me, you, bastard!"

A wave of pain washed his ankle when Izzie kicked him mercilessly in the sheen. He involuntarily bent down to rub the sore spot and noticed how the girl took away the paper as soon as it was at her reach.

"What is your fucking problem?" he exclaimed straightening again.

"You! You are my damned problem!" Izzie snorted angrily.

"What the hell?" Kanda blinked bewildered. "Are you on drugs?" He stared blankly at the girl while she accommodated the papers again, completely confused by her reaction. Her face was contorted in a scowl, her eyebrows furrowed so badly that they nearly touched each other over her nose.

"_Are you on drugs?"_ she mimicked "What's wrong with you? Who the hell do you think you are, eh? Kissing me in the damned hospital with no explanation and then pretending that I don't exist? What kind of petty, stupid behavior is that?" she ranted. Even though she was clearly speaking to him, her eyes remained fixated on the keys of the piano the whole time. Following her gaze, Kanda realized that the once calmed hands were now trembling with fury and maybe fear or nervousness.

He didn't answer. Not because he felt somehow insulted, but because he really didn't have nothing to say. The indifference, the coldness towards her, he was perfectly conscious of all those because they were done intentionally. Why he had done it? He needed three days to jump to the conclusion, and the answer that came out from his deep reflection was nothing that could satisfy him at all. He tried not to think about it, but with her ranting and blaming him that way, it was hard to ignore the bunch of cheesy thoughts that flew across his mind.

"And you don't say anything? Aren't you going to try to defend yourself? Oh yeah, of course you won't, because your huge egocentrism will never allow you to think about the other people's feelings. What do you think I am? A one stand slut? Do you think you can toy with me, kiss me and there pretend nothing happened? Was that some kind of payback for the kiss I stole when I was drunk?" she harshly muttered, letting all the steam off. Directing her cold glare to Kanda, she utterly stood his unreadable expression in wait for an answer.

Her eyes, her long silky hair, the way her mouth was slightly trembling due to the feelings that he supposed were boiling inside her...he looked at all of these dazed, his mind becoming cloudy the more he inspected her features.

That was why he so badly tried to avoid her the last days: because he hated feeling so _vulnerable_. He hated the way his hands trembled whenever she got closer; he hated it when his heart started bumping madly against his ribs; he hated it how all his smugness and security elapsed the moment she looked right into his eyes, like if she could see his soul through them.

He hated it, and he hated her for making him feel that way. However, the hate he felt didn't feel like hate though, because he didn't want to see her hurt and suddenly remembered how he felt her wretchedness when she cried. This hatred was weird, a rare way of feeling that he never experienced before. He wanted her away, but, still, couldn't bear the distance. He wanted not to see her anymore, but felt as if he couldn't survive without a glimpse of her eyes.

He hated her. He hated her. He hated her.

"I hate you" he murmured impulsively, believing that he would be able to convince himself of that fact the moment he said it aloud. Nevertheless, the effect was the opposite than what he expected, because that statement sounded like a flat lie to his ears.

Izzie's amused and hurt expression didn't help at all. She was speechless for various seconds, with her mouth opened in a perfect "o".

After ten heartbeats –damn, they were so loud that he even counted them- the girl clenched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth, averting her eyes from the bassist to avoid giving away the feelings that spread across her chest, she tried to remain composed.

"That's…good to hear" she mumbled "Then I won't let this infatuation grow any bigger"

Izzie pretended to focus again on the piano, but the truth was that she couldn't direct her thoughts to the music again. The pain that she started to feel was just too strong that her eyes started stinging with trapped tears.

"Izzie" the name came as a growl, Kanda's voice really close to her ear.

"Is alright, I understand yo-" the sentence was interrupted by the strong grip that Kanda caught her chin into.

Parsimoniously, in a slow and magic motion, he turned her face to cover her parted lips with his.

It was a soft kiss, nothing compared to the desperation of the hospital's contact. This time, it didn't have the taste of anguish but, instead, it felt like a straight confession.

It took her a few seconds to close her eyes; and another moment to recover the enough mental control to return the kiss. Her movements were shy and inexperienced, but with Kanda leading the action, it went smooth and naturally.

"So this is what hate means to you?" she sighed when they broke the contact to catch their breaths.

"Shut up and write the stupid song" he grunted. She felt a hint of a smirk curving his mouth and soon, her lips did the same.

Izzie took a deep breath to calm down. With shaking fingers, she tried to take the papers with the lyrics scribbled, but Kanda's hands were faster.

He wrote something down with perfect impassiveness adorning his features, only disturbed by a wry smirk. Izzie looked over his arm to whatever he was writing.

_And your slowly shaking fingertips show_

_That you're scared like me _

"You are scared too?" Izzie inquired after he left the paper sheet again onto the piano.

"Che, is just a song, not my feelings" he said. "Learn to separate work from personal affairs"

Izzie gulped, not sure about how she should take that. Instead, she decided to complete the song with a few ideas and try out some chords on the piano. She ordered Kanda to do the same on the guitar to see if they could coordinate it and adjust it to Lavi's voice tone.

"Change the flat A for a Am7 in the fourth sentence of the chorus" he commanded.

Izzie proved the efficiency of his suggestion and wrote it down on the paper after approving it. The sound was clearer and adjusted better to the F note that followed.

"Kanda" she murmured after a while of repeating the music sequence.

"What?" he snapped, his eyes fixated on the strings of the guitar which he tried to readjust.

"Amm…forget it" Izzie shook her head after a moment of doubt.

Kanda turned to see her. Her cheeks were slightly flushing, which meant that whatever she was about to say probably embarrassed her.

"Say it" he commanded, rejoiced in her uneasiness.

"No, it was nothing" Izzie insisted. "I think we are done, the bridge is pretty simple, but we'll have to change it if Lavi can't reach the tone"

"That's not what you wanted to say" Kanda cleverly pointed out. He put a leg onto the small bench Izzie was sat on and accommodated the guitar again. "Spit it out" he requested when it was clear that Izzie was not replying.

She cleared her throat. How could she voice it? How could she ask him if he really did feel something about her? Wasn't it clear after all those kisses? Well, certainly not for her, because Kanda's behavior was unsettling.

Improvisation was the first weapon she thought of that moment, noticing Kanda's adamant stare upon her.

"I was just wondering" she stammered and her eyes landed on the sheet of paper over the piano "Did you really write all of that? It doesn't sound like you at all" she commented doubtfully.

He raised an eyebrow and clicked his tongue "The bridge" he said "The rest is creation of the usagi"

"That's what I supposed" why did that disappointed her? She never really thought that Kanda could have that sensitive part in him, right? It was just that, for a moment, she wanted to believe that Kanda could be cheesy and even romantic. What a fool she had been. "It was pretty obvious" she mumbled more for her than for him, but still, he heard the exclamation.

"Really?" he asked skeptically "It's not like your small brain can know me at all"

Izzie huffed. "You are not the kind of human being that can write romantic lyrics" she argued.

"Don't you think I am capable of? Che, didn't you hear the damned song I sang in the sound proof?" he indignantly defended.

"That was not cheesy!" Izzie corrected. Nonetheless, she did remember that the first time she heard the song…it was probably when all those cheesy feelings started accumulating in her interior. Looking in retrospection, however, the song wasn't that twee, just a bit sentimental. "Except the chorus, which I suspect Lavi wrote" she said after recalling the lyrics.

"Tsch, it was Lenalee" he spat unconsciously, then bit his tongue at the confession. "Never mind, that doesn't prove anything"

"Of course it does. Accept it, you cannot write anything twee"

"I can but that I don't want" he stubbornly affirmed.

"You can't because you are cold-hearted and your huge ego doesn't allow it" Izzie harshly snapped.

"Don't underestimate me, woman" he said icily. They noticed in that moment how close they were: their heads had unconsciously drawn nearer with the intensity of the argument.

Their foreheads were practically touching and Kanda felt again the irresistible need of eliminating the distance that separated their mouths.

Izzie moved forward too, following her impulses. They would have kissed right that moment if a redheaded hadn't interrupted with his annoying voice.

"Izzie is right! You cannot write a cheesy song!" he exclaimed. "Ups, sorry" the singer apologized when he saw the weird position his friends were in.

At the sight of Lavi and Angel barging in, the still-not-consolidated couple jumped apart from each other. A hard thump was heard when the guitar hit violently the piano in Kanda's endeavor to establish distance between the girl he was about to kiss and himself.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" he stormed at the singer.

"You scared me!" Izzie exclaimed, a hand dramatically placed on her chest.

"'.it" Lavi mouthed, his eye widened in disbelief "You were SO TOTALLY ABOUT TO KISS HER, OH, YUU~" the singer ran to the bassist's side to embrace him in a big bear hug, but Kanda dodged his arms and punched him in the stomach.

"Get your fucking ass away of me" he deadpanned.

Izzie tried to ignore the two males as the long-haired one punched Lavi and the last one demonstrated so little instinct of self-conservation as to follow his comrade around, still trying to express his physical affection.

In consequence, her eyes landed on her best friend, who was raising an eyebrow at her for all question. Blood arose to Izzie's cheeks when she realized they were caught _in fraganti_.

"Explanation?" Angel asked with a smile when she got closer.

Izzie just shrugged. She would have given it, of course, if she actually had one.

"Don't you want to tell me?" Angel inquired with preoccupation.

"I don't know what's going on" Izzie tiredly contested. She let out the breath that she didn't know her lungs were still holding.

"You like him. He likes you. What more can be going on?" the false-raven girl exclaimed.

"I highly doubt he likes me" Izzie smiled with no glee. "I have reasons to think he is just playing around"

"Kanda is not that type of man, you know" her friend reasoned.

"OI, DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" Kanda tried to push Lavi's around away from him.

"You break my heart, Yuu" Lavi dramatically cried when his best friend released from his embrace "I'm going to die without your love~"

"Then why the fuck ain't you buried?" the Japanese exclaimed.

"Because I have to live to see yours and Izzie-chan's children~"

"Go to fucking hell, usagi. And get your fucking ass OUT!" Kanda yelled with a note of hysteria in his voice. A faint pink could be visible in his pale cheeks. Just faint pink.

"But I wanted to support Izzie-chan's point!" Lavi said alarmed "You cannot write cheesy songs"

"That's not your fucking problem. And I can write them if I want"

"Empty words, right, Angel?" Lavi got near the seat where Angel and Izzie were in and surrounded his girlfriend's shoulders absentmindedly with an arm.

"Don't include me in your rows, hon" she excused herself with a smile.

"You are my girlfriend! You are supposed to be the one who always support me! Oh, the world is so cruel!" the singer sniffed audibly. Angel just rolled her eyes at the display and patted his arm.

"Is okay, darling" Lavi sobbed, burying his face in Angel's soft hair "Probably we are intoxicating Yuu now, he can't stand anything twee since he is not able to write songs like that" he glanced once at the bassist who clicked his tongue disdainfully.

Izzie smirked. Lavi was so obvious at provoking Yuu, she wondered if Kanda's pride was so big to make him fall in the trap.

Yep, it was.

"I already told you I can write cheesy shit!" the Japanese growled.

"Prove it" Lavi smiled. "Let's make a bet! If you can't write something twee from now to the end of the week, I'll get Izzie-chan a blind date with a friend of mine"

"What kind of fucking bet is that one?" Kanda retaliated.

"Don't include me in this, Lavi" Izzie scowled.

"If Kanda-sama writes a cheesy song," Angel, oblivious to the others' exclamations and following Lavi's game, continued "Then I'll personally arrange a date for you two"

"Forget it" Kanda spat acidly.

"Oww, you give up so easily? Alright, Izzie-chan, I'm sure you'll love Daisya Barry more" Lavi voiced aloud happily.

"Daisya Barry?" the bassist turned to glare at the singer "What the fuck are you thinking about? He is a fucking weirdo"

"He is the Football Soccer Captain, a perfect candidate for Izzie-chan, unless you disagree with that" Lavi gave Kanda a meaningful glance which he avoided immediately.

"Who is Daisya Barry?" Izzie asked with curiosity. She thought she had heard his name before while wandering around in the hallways and a malicious face with tear-drop marks painted with purple makeup popped out in her head.

"A cheerful, energetic athlete, Izzie-chan. Or would you rather having another option? I have plenty of friends who'd be interested in meeting you~"

"Oi, cut that crap off" Kanda grunted. Izzie's curiosity, although it was slight, made his blood boil even more.

"Jealous, Yuu-pon?" Lavi mischievously teased.

"Go to hell and rot there" the bassists spat.

Lavi's cell phone vibrated that moment. Before giving a retort, he took out the device and smiled when he saw the caller ID.

"Hey, Daisya, we were just talking of you" he beamed to the receiver.

"I am Allen, rabbit" the keyboardist corrected from the other side of the line.

"Oh, I'm busy now, Daisya, maybe another day. By the way, you told me once that you like raven girls right?" the singer smiled even wider, enjoying with Kanda's deadly glare.

"What the hell you are up to, Lavi?" Allen questioned "Wait, I don't care, we've been waiting for you for about an hour!"

"I knew it!" Lavi let out a false laugh "Well, don't make plans for Saturday. I have the perfect lady for you. Oi, what are you doing, Yuu?" the redheaded exclaimed when Kanda snatched the cell phone out of his hands and pushed the red button without looking at the caller ID.

"Get a life, rabbit" he snarled.

"Does this mean you are writing the song?" Lavi's eyes brightened.

Kanda clicked his tongue "We are fucking late" he grabbed the finished song Izzie and him had wrote and headed to the exit.

"That means he accepts the challenge because he loves you" Lavi winked at Izzie, referring to the way Kanda had dodged his question.

She didn't say anything, but her thoughts followed the line of Lavi's insinuation.

Did that mean Kanda like her?

* * *

A/N: Hey there! I finally got over my writer's block! Yay! Just in time, so here is the result :D So Kanda has to write a cheesy song if he doesn't want to see Izzie going out with another guy. Damn it, he and Izzie are giving me a harsh time trying to get them to confess their love.

Well, so the last and cheesy chapters are about to come, u.u well, I have already half of the sequel's plot planned out in my head, but I'm afraid I may not be able to picture it correctly. Gues we'd have to wait to see it.

And Lavi is taking Angel on a date! They haven't had the opportunity to go out as boyfriend and girlfriend properly because of the last happenings, and I think it is time for them to spend some quality time together. I'm getting twee now ;)

Well, what about a review? :D Please?


	29. Chapter 29 Love is not bad at all

_Innocence Rock Time ~_

Angel walked distractedly around the corridors. She had barely slept the night before due to thousand of thoughts that crowded her mind; principally, the blonde girl's threat.

"_I'm not asking if you want or not, I can make your life impossible if you don't obey me. I know everything about you, Angel Leverrier, that your father is a corrupt and…"_

Leverrier couldn't be corrupt, was her affirmation. She was pretty convinced of that and wouldn't let any other person unconnected to her problems change her mind.

Still, there was the girl's threat about making her social life impossible. There was something in those words that sounded serious enough to chill out Angel's nerves.

Like if calling it, Melanie's high-pitched voice resounded behind her that moment.

"Hey, Innocence's slut!" she called. Angel tried to ignore her and walk away, but the stamp of the blonde's heels sounded closer with each step she took forward.

"Go away" Angel snorted when she felt someone tugging her sleeve. The girl jerked away instinctively, conscious of the attention they were calling around, and prepared to sneak away when a cold substance washed her from head to toes.

Angel stayed steel, surprised. Cool water slipped along her skin, damping her clothes and dripping from the locks of her dyed hair.

The girl gasped and spit out some of the liquid that had drained into her mouth. She realized then, for the taste in the tip of her tongue, that what was all over her wasn't normal water at all.

The color was _green, _like if it was full of mould or had been collected from a stinky poodle after a rainy day. Besides, the smell that it emanated was of rotted eggs and sewer's gunk.

After taking note of these facts, Angel's ears finally noticed the laughs. Sheepishly, she cleaned her eyes so they could look properly around beyond the locks of hair and filth that obstructed her sight.

There was, at least, half of the student body standing in a circle around her, everybody laughing at her pitiful state. Closer than anyone, the blonde girl was laughing even harder at Angel's astonished face which soon converted in a pained expression.

"I told you to get away from Lavi, slut" she hissed close to her ear. Escorting her, there were three other girls who threw to Angel dirty insinuations and names. "Nobody defy Melanie Williams and goes away like that. This is my first warning" Melanie stated.

Angel felt like crying. Probably, she was crying by then and she almost thanked the dirtiness that damped her for hiding her tears.

There was no known face around, just malicious expressions and those earsplitting laughs.

"Angel!" a female voice –her savior- finally called. The summoned girl looked for the person who had said her name until her eyes landed on Lenalee's preoccupied form walking in her direction.

"What's going on here?" the singer demanded. The laughter abruptly stopped as all eyes observed the gorgeous singer surrounding Angel's shoulders with an arm to console her.

"Who did this?" Lenalee raised her voice angrily when nobody answered.

It was unsettling and almost scary to see her angry. The delicate Chinese features had turned into a deep scowl which still looked cute on her, even when a deadly spark shone in her brown eyes.

"WHO DID THIS?" Lenalee repeated.

"Is alright, Lenalee-" Angel hiccupped "I…Just leave it like that"

"No, it is not alright, Angel!" the singer retorted "And of course I'm not leaving this, whoever dared do such an awful action deserves being punished"

"Well, I did it, and what?" the petite blonde girl gave one step forward. "I don't know how you believe her" Melanie pointed accusatorily to Angel's trembling form "Don't you know what kind of person she is? I bet she is a cheater, they say those things are inherited from the family"

"Sh-shut up!" Angel weakly responded offended by the insinuation of her adoptive father's corruption.

"See! They say a strong denial is a flat yes" Melanie sneered "She doesn't deserve to be with you"

"And you deserve it, Melanie Williams?" a male voice asked.

Lavi had stalked to the center of the circle as soon as he heard Lenalee yelling. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared around before stopping his cold eye on Melanie's direction.

It was unnatural to see him like that, Angel thought. It was frightening and sent shivers down her spine. In spite of her boasts about knowing Lavi as well as the palm of her hand, she never guessed his handsome face was able to contort in that terrifying way. Her head discovered that moment her new greatest fear: having Lavi looking at her like that.

"I…I…Lavi, she is fooling you, can't you see it?" Melanie replied. However, the strength of her lame explanation was diminished by her pale face. She fidgeted with her fingers nervously while her eyes flickered from Lavi to the floor.

"The only one that fools around is you" Lavi sentenced. There was a heavy silence until he talked again "I am very glad I discovered your true colors before going any further with you" he flatly said "You are the most unworthy person of my attention"

With one fast movement, he grabbed Angel's wrist and dragged her out of the circle with Lenalee stepping over their heels.

"Lavi, I…" Angel started to say once they stopped outside the bathrooms.

"Shush, don't say anything" Lavi kindly murmured, all his anger vanished. "Is alright"

Together, he and Lenalee, started cleaning Angel's face softly with toilet paper until her slightly tanned skin was visible again. Lenalee did the same with the neck and arms while the male singer squeezed Angel gently against his chest.

"I'll take her to my house" the Chinese informed when it became obvious that the stinking smell wasn't disappearing just with the toilet paper. "We'll meet you in the headquarters"

Lavi twisted his mouth "Amm, actually, we weren't planning going to the headquarters today" he explained.

"Why not?" Lenalee raised a questioning eyebrow in his direction.

"We are going on a date" the male winked happily. "That may cheer her up, ya' know?" he whispered subtly to Lenalee's ear, but Angel still heard him.

"I don't…I don't want to cause any more problems" Angel murmured more for herself than for the others.

"Problems? Come on, Angel, I've been preparing this the whole week, you are going to love it!" Lavi beamed at her.

"Then I'll have to go fetch Izzie" Lenalee thoughtfully commented.

"Izzie? Please, don't tell her about this, please!" the false-raven snapped out from her doom state and frantically pleaded. "She is going to make a big fuss of this, please"

"Izzie-chan? I think she'll understand" the male singer bewildered said. Izzie was a tranquil, thoughtful person, imagining her making a big fuss about something bordered in the surreal.

"Oh, you don't know her when she is mad" Angel responded "Please, please, don't tell her, please. I'll go to the date, but please, don't tell her anything"

"Oi, don't say that like if you are going out with me forcefully" Lavi smirked "But I think Izzie-chan should know, she is your best friend, after all" he said.

"I agree, for once in my life, with Lavi" Lenalee supported his comrade with a serious expression "She'll have to find out sooner or later"

"I'd rather if it was later" Angel said "Just, don't tell her, alright? Now, I want to get a shower, I stink more than Lavi after a concert"

"Hey! Don't bust me! My heart is going to break now, ugh" the redheaded teased along.

Lenalee rolled her eyes but a smile appeared in her features when she saw that everything was back to normal.

* * *

"I don't think this is necessary, Lenalee-chan" Angel said.

"Shush, don't talk and relax" the Chinese singer ordered. She gently pushed Angel's head back to get a better view of her face. "Close your eyes"

"Lavi knows me without makeup, what's the point of using it now?" Angel protested.

"Because I want him to get a heart-attack so I can be Innocence's principal voice" Lenalee sweetly smiled "Now, close your eyes"

Angel heavily sighed. She knew, from the Chinese's expression, that she was not going to give up and keeping on discussing about the matter only meant more time that she was going to be kept away from Lavi.

She wondered with some fear what the hell Lenalee was doing with her face once she closed her eyes. She could feel the singer's fingers slightly pressing her eyelids, then moving to her cheeks, her mouth and, well, all her face.

The penetrating smell of the foundation invaded her nose, together with the other chemicals that the singer slowly spread in her face.

"Now you are ready" Lenalee said after a while "Open your eyes, c'mon"

With a growl, Angel straightened in the chair and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

She gawked. The gorgeous girl of the mirror did the same at the same time, like if none of them could believe what they were seeing.

Angel had worn makeup before –in the Grammy's ball, for example- but she never tried before the false eyelashes neither the magic of concealer nor a good foundation. As a result of them, her skin seemed smooth and flawless which, in addition with the soft eyeshades, eyeliner and maroon lipstick, transformed her face in something unrecognizable.

"Do you like it?" Lenalee shyly asked, worried about the lack of words from her companion.

"I…" Angel muttered "Woah, you are an artist, Lenalee!" she exclaimed and hugged the singer "Thank you"

Lenalee giggled "Don't thank me already. You still have to put your clothes on. Come, we have no time to lose"

The outfit Lenalee had selected was a rather bold but casual one. A straight, black skirt that hugged tightly Angel's body fell up to her knees. It was supposed to be a mini-skirt, but Lenalee was taller and thinner than Angel, so the way the clothes adjusted to Angel's body was kind of weird.

The white blouse, on the other side, fell loosely, leaving one of her shoulder uncovered. She was wearing a black tank top under the piece which contrasted perfectly with the thin fabric –almost transparent- of the blouse.

Angel felt rather awkward while she waited in the hall of the hotel Lavi had arranged their date to start. If it hadn't been Lavi the one to ask her out in a hotel, probably it wouldn't have crossed Angel's mind to even consider the possibility.

But it happened that it was Lavi the one who called her, so there she was, waiting for the singer to appear.

Angel shifted her feet, uncomfortable. She consulted her wrist-watch for the umpteenth time. 6:45, they were supposed to meet at 6 o'clock, where the hell Lavi was?

"Hey, you" a full-grown up man called. He made signs to call Angel's attention, which she utterly ignored. Her heart started racing fast when the fat man walked in her way with the full intention to talk to her.

Angel stepped backwards and locked her gaze upon the glass-doors.

"Hey, I'm talking to you" the man called. He was short and fat, with a funny haircut that unsuccessfully tried to cover the bald spots of his head.

"I don't know you, I'm sorry" Angel spat immediately and prepared herself to run.

"Oh, I am sorry" he shook his head "I must have scared you. I am a friend of Lavi Bookman, he asked me to get down here and fetch you"

"Pardon?" Angel blinked twice. Lavi had sent him?

"Yes" the man vigorously nodded "He is in the rooftop right now waiting for you. You must be Angel Leverrier. I am Chad Thornton" he extended his hand and waited for Angel to shake it.

"Amm…well…If Lavi sent you guess it's safe to follow you?" she shyly asked after releasing Chad's hand.

"Of course, come here, we don't have time to waste" Chad guided Angel to the elevators across the hallway.

The girl followed him unsurely. If he tried anything funny, at least she was sure to be able to knock him. His complexion couldn't allow Chad to move or run fast. Maybe just making him trip with her feet or a punch in the nape…

"Mss. Leverrier, would you be kind enough?" Chad pointed to the interior of an empty elevator with a hand. Angel nodded and climbed into, followed by Chad.

She observed while the man pressed the last button of the row that prayed '25'. The compartment swiftly started moving upwards.

"The two upper floors lack of elevator system, so we'll have to use the stairs" Chad informed. He gazed once at Angel's high heels and flinched "Maybe you'd like to take them off" he pointed to the shoes.

"No, thanks" Angel refused. "What is Lavi exactly doing in the rooftop?" she inquired. Her stomach twisted when the needle that indicated the floor they were passing pointed 20. That was bloody high.

"Surprise" Chad smirked "I have strict orders to not reveal it until you are there"

"Amm…okay" Angel groaned. 23. She was so going to kick Lavi's ass for making her get into an elevator with a stranger to get to the terribly high rooftop of a hotel. Trying to distract her mind from the fact that her stomach was left down in the first floor, she thought instead of Lavi's machinations. When she said she wanted to go on a date with him, she imagined an Italian restaurant or maybe a walk in the park holding hands. This was totally out of her schemes. Nonetheless, now that she thought about it, truthfully, which of Lavi's doings were in her schemes?

The needle finally stopped in the last number and the metallic doors opened to reveal an illuminated hallway with identical doors on each side.

"Here" Chad moved his big body to the end of the corridor and pushed another metallic door to reveal a set of staircase.

"You first, lady" he indicated. Angel twisted her mouth doubtfully. The stairs were made of rusted metal with some random holes here and there. Now she understood why Chad had told her that she may prefer to take the stilettos off. However, walking barefoot on a surface like that couldn't be wise at all.

"You are so dead, Lavi Bookman" she hissed to the nothingness. At her back, she could hear Chad's diverted chuckle.

Clinging to the banister as if her life depended of it –and it probably did- she made it through the last two floors. She felt like if the entire complex was about to fall whenever her foot stepped on the next stair. It wouldn't have surprised her that the banister trembled now and then under Chad's weight.

Another door similar to the last one was at the end of the staircase. She gently pushed it and the sunlight kindly met her sweated face.

"Angel-chan!" her boyfriend's voice exclaimed as soon as she became visible. "How are you~?" he asked while sinking her small body in a tight hug.

"Sweated, scared and tired" she mumbled "What the hell were you thinking, making me come up here?" the girl suddenly snapped. However, her tone didn't reach the harshness she wished. This was Lavi, after all, and it was kind of difficult to be mad at him.

"Oww, it is just part of a master plan" Lavi beamed. He broke the embrace and moved aside to unblock the girl's view. "Admire our vehicle"

Lavi made a theatrical gesture with his hand in direction of…was Angel looking well? Could it really be…a helicopter?

"What's going on?" Angel asked bewildered. The man named Chad and another one, taller and slimmer, stood side by side in front of the machine, smiling happily at them.

"I told you I was preparing a surprise for our first official date as girlfriend and boyfriend" Lavi winked –or blinked, whatever- "First times are meant to be epic"

"Oh…" Angel was speechless. What could she say? Thanks, perhaps? This was far from what she had in mind for a date, but it wasn't unwelcome at all.

Seriously, a helicopter? How much money did that cost?

Angel realized then that she didn't really know how much money Lavi had. As a public figure and renowned singer, he was supposed to earn a good income, but his house definitely didn't reflect it. Lavi had once told her his grandpa didn't allow him to make any remodeling to the shack, but it never occurred to her to ask where all his money went to stop in.

"I know I left you astounded, but we have a schedule to cover" the male singer happily grinned "So, let's go! You are looking gorgeous, by the way" he held Angel's hand and guided her to the helicopter, where the captain and sub-captain –Chad- helped her climb.

"Amm…I don't know if I have told you before" Angel gulped nervously when the idea of flying finally stroked her. She fidgeted with her fingers nervously and noticed her stomach twisting. "That I am…afraid of…heights"

The engine of the complicated machine drowned her complain.

"Put these on" Chad yelled to make his voice hear over the racket. He handed Lavi and Angel a pair of headphones with a microphone. "In case you want to speak to us" he briefly explained.

Angel and Lavi obeyed. Angel's hands were visible trembling and Lavi didn't stay oblivious to it. He smiled encouragingly to his girlfriend in that way that made all her problems vanish away.

The helicopter softly lifted from the ground and swayed for a few seconds until it stabilized. Angel felt as if her heart was going to jump out of her mouth. When a slight turbulence shook the vehicle, she let out a shriek and clung to Lavi's neck.

He chuckled and hugged her tightly back. From the small windows they could see the buildings of the center growing smaller as they gained altitude.

"Oh my God" Angel murmured. Her eyes closed instinctively and hid her face in Lavi's clothes.

"I didn't know you were acrophobic" he said, surprised. "Do you want to return?"

"No, no" Angel shook her head "Is alright" she lifted her eyes to meet his iris and sheepishly smiled.

"Are you sure? You are green" he teased.

"Chist, just let's go where you planned" she smiled and clung to him like if he was her safest anchor. Probably he was.

Lavi's lips twisted with preoccupation, but he didn't say anything.

"Open your eyes when I indicate you, okay?" he commanded. Obediently, Angel buried her face in his chest.

The deafening sound of the helicopter's engine; the rush of the air and the rhythm of Lavi's heartbeats induced her mind to a state of terrified torpor. Her forehead was covered with cool sweat while her trembling hands clutched Lavi's clothes.

Finally, Lavi interrupted her horrified state.

"Now, open your eyes and don't freak out" he whispered to her ear. "Is okay, I am here"

Yes, he was there, there was nothing to fear. Angel took a deep breath and turned her head to look out the window, to the exact point Lavi indicated.

They were in the countryside. Vast lands extended to the infinite, places divided to indicate wild spaces from farms' territories. It was like a patched, huge blanket with different green tonalities, some of them slowly turning brown as autumn approximated.

But what caught her attention was not the beautiful landscape, but an exact point just below them that was obviously touched by men's hands.

On some cultivated terrain, somebody had smashed the plants and covered them with red and purple paint so a figure was clearly visible from the sky.

More than a figure, it was a word.

_Langel_

"Langel?" Angel asked.

"Your name and mine combined" Lavi responded from somewhere near her ear. She felt his strong arms slowly surrounding her waist from behind. "We are Langel~" he happily sang. "Do you like it? Yes yes yes yes yes yes? I did do a great job, didn't I? You like it?" he asked in an excited way.

Angel grinned "I totally love it! Oh, Lavi!" she turned around, forgetting completely that they were around one thousand feet over the ground, and hugged him. "Oh my, Lavi! You are awesome!"

"I know it~ I _lurveeee _you" he happily declared. Angel giggled and pushed him down to meet his lips with hers. Her hands tangled around his hair while she tried to deepen the kiss. Lavi responded immediately until his own laughter made them broke the contact.

"I surprised you, didn't I? Hahaha"

"You are like a kid" Angel laughed too "You did" she aimed to kiss him again, but he was already busy searching for something in his pockets.

"A photograph, to remember this moment" he exclaimed and passed a digital camera to one of the men in front. "Hey, Chad, please"

A minute later, Angel and he were revising the pictures while they waited for the helicopter to get to the rooftop of the hotel.

"I'd like to print that" Angel exclaimed and pointed to one photograph. Lavi and she were in the middle of a kiss with the _Langel _landscape visible across the only space where their bodies weren't touching.

"Whatever for my _AANGEEEL~" _Lavi tuned "Now, where would you like to go eat?"

"Now you are letting me decide?" Angel laughed "My stomach is so nauseous that eating will be impossible for a while"

"Then, the park" Lavi smiled. The helicopter made some rough maneuvers until the captain found the best way to land onto the rooftop.

Lavi pecked Angel in the cheek before helping her jump off the helicopter. He thanked the captain and sub-captain and paid them an amount of money that he didn't let Angel see.

"Lavi, crouch down" Angel said out of nowhere just before they reached the door that guided them back to the interior of the hotel.

"Why?" he asked while bending his knees. "Ow, you should have said that before!" Lavi laughed when he felt Angel climbing his back.

"I am not stepping on those stairs again, so you better start moving" she affirmed.

Lavi only shook his head. Afterwards, he was still carrying Angel while running across the hotel's hall.

"LAVI, CALM DOWN! I AM GOING TO FALL!" the girl yelled.

"You asked for this, Angel-chan!" he responded. Outside, the orange light of the sunset greeted the couple.

Angel never felt so lucky in her life.

Lavi had never felt so in peace and happy at the same time. With Angel's weight in his back, he felt complete. He felt happy. He felt good.

It was like being on the stage but sweeter. His heart raced furiously and the adrenaline invaded his veins while a soft warm wrapped his soul.

Who would have said that the girl that was meant to make him feel like that was a fangirl? Who would have said that that summer his life was going to give a turn?

He felt like he had never felt before. He never allowed himself to fall in love before, but now that he finally decided to let feelings strike him with no limitations, he thanked and rejoiced in it.

_Love doesn't lead to a broken heart, but to happiness _he said to himself like a small child that repeated what he saw that day in class _Love is not bad at all. _

* * *

A/N: I was so longing to make a special chapter for Lavi and Angel, hope you liked this! Alright, maybe the idea of the helicopter is a bit of a cliché, but ...I don't care haha. At first, I had three principal options for their date: 1) Dinner in an Italian restaurant; 2) A walk in the park; 3) An amusement park; but I couldn't imagine Lavi's charismatic character choosing any of these. He usually likes to get ordinary things to be extraordinary, don't you think?

About Lavi's thought: he is clumsy at love, I gotta say. At the beginning, it was pretty obvious because of the epic fails he made while trying to write a song for Angel. After that and after admitting his feelings to himself, he is like a kid discovering the world: unsure and excited at the same time. Maybe that was cheesy and sounded childish, but that's just his way of thinking. Because of the previous enclosure of his heart, he never learnt what it was to like someone, and he is so excited that he made his feelings rapidly evolve to something similar to love. Hope you understand my twisted psychology. xD Poor him, he doesn't know what is coming ~

Probably updates may take a bit longer to be made from now on due to me going back to school (buu) but I promise I won't leave this story, especially when the ending is close. I have next chapter already planned, though. Will Kanda be able to write that cheesy song? MAKE YOUR BETS AND LEAVE THEM IN A REVIEW! Please? haha xD

Thank you so much for your support, for the reviews, song suggestions, story alerts, favorites...everything! Thank you so much! Chapter 29, wow, I have never reached this far before. I am really grateful to all of you *sniffs*

Well, again, thank you. ;)

Let's get wasted!


	30. Chapter 30 When you were young

_Innocence Rock Time!_

_What to do when selfish love clashes with infatuation?_

Kanda wrote down the last word in the paper.

He stirred in his chair and looked at the clock. 6 p.m. It didn't take him a lot of time to make the stupid cheesy lyrics of the stupid cheesy song the stupid rabbit had challenged him to make.

In fact, it had been easier than what he expected: just a matter of disconnecting his front lobe's neurons to let the words flow from his subconscious.

Like a stream, verses had attended the point of his pen without any hesitation. For his own shame, probably Kanda would have to admit that, deep inside his soul he wasn't as cold-hearted as he pretended to be.

The bassist looked at his work and started reading it for the first time. They were just two long verses with not so much words, but the meaning of it was enough to cause him goose bumps.

Every letter, every word, even every trace, they all resembled certain _someone_; they all made a certain face pop out in his mind.

Could it be possible that, unconsciously, he had written that for _her_? She?

No, his mind was just playing confusing games to him. Still, what was that warmth spreading across his chest now that he re-read his song? What did it mean that his lips started to burn at the remembrance of his last kiss? Why was his heart running so fast?

Could it be…He read the song for a third time. Each word, each feeling printed there, why did they feel so _correct? _

With trembling hand, he wrote on top of the paper a possible title.

_Izzie's Song_

It fitted. Hell, the stupid thing fucking felt like fitting! How could a godamned title fit a song?

Was he…was he…

_And I love you  
I love you_

Those two last verses.

Holy shit.

No, it was wrong. All that shit was wrong.

He wrapped the paper, squeezed it between his fingers and scanned the room for the trash bin.

There it was. Just tossing it and the scandalous revelation would disappear.

But something stopped him. His wrists didn't obey him, his fingers refused to release the sheet of paper. Throwing something had never been that difficult to Kanda, and that was worrying.

It was a stupid song, what was wrong with him? Why did he grow fucking sentimental all of a sudden?

He wished with all his mind to get rid of the paper, but his heart –since when did it have voice?- ordered him to do otherwise, to keep the song. Which one to obey?

He couldn't be in love. Even thinking about it almost made him laugh –almost-. Nonetheless, convincing himself that he was _not _in love felt equally wrong. Could it be just a crush? Hell, of course no, he wasn't a stupid whimsical junior high's student.

Then, what was all of that? Could it be possible that he just _liked her_? And supposing that that theory was remotely true, what was he supposed to do? He was not of the romantic style and a question such as '_Do you wanna be my girlfriend?' _sounded ridiculous in his lips.

She liked him; that was for real. Did he like her back?

Did he like her back?

Another groan. Why was he breaking his head in such a trivial issue? He should be working to keep the godamned rabbit's mouth shut.

Then again, why was he so adamant in writing the song? Was it just because Lavi challenged him or was it because he couldn't stand the idea of Izzie going out with another guy?

The answer made him shudder.

He couldn't throw the song. Yet, he couldn't show it since it'd be like a straight confession right in front of the band's noses.

What to do?

_Write another song_ he told himself. _Not a so-fucking-twee one_.

It was a crossroad: writing a normal song and letting Izzie go on a blind date or sacrifice his dignity to go out with her, which one was better?

Which sensation dominated him: possessiveness or pride? Could it be both?

Izzie going out with anyone else made him nauseous. Admitting his feelings to the band –it'd be completely obvious the moment they saw the song- made him sick.

What to do when selfish love clashes with infatuation?

* * *

"YUU! YUU YUU YUU-PON!"

"Oi, stop fucking harassing me!" the bassist growled when his annoying redheaded peer came across him in the hallway. Couldn't he just make his way to the stupid cafeteria without the rabbit pursuing his ass?

"But I _loooooveeeeeeee yooouuuuuu" _Lavi happily retorted, hugging affectively one of Kanda's arms.

"I thought you had a girlfriend" Allen rolled his eyes when he ran into them in the corridor. Behind him, Lenalee grinned at the sight.

"I HAVE it, but that doesn't mean I can't express my love to my dearly dear Yuu-pon" the singer responded.

Kanda growled audibly when Lavi started rubbing his cheek against his. Pushing him rudely away, he crossed the double-doors of the cafeteria and took a tray from onto the counter.

"Although he is totally incapable of showing back any kind of feeling?" Allen mockingly inquired, raising his voice loud enough for Kanda to hear him over Lavi's shoulder. They queued along the buffet-bar to have their lunches served.

"I know he has warm feelings deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep deep inside that little heart, right, Yuu-chii?" the redheaded smiled.

"I said don't touch me!" Kanda smacked the singer's finger away when he tried to pock his chest right in the center.

"Why are you so cruel?"

"I bet that if it was Izzie the one to say those things," Lenalee beamed from behind Allen "Kanda would be totally flustered right now"

"I what?" a familiar girl's voice asked.

Stupid guy! Why did he have stop all of a sudden and make Kanda's tray crash against his? The metallic clash of aluminum crashing against aluminum resounded in Kanda's ears. A can of Dr. Pepper fell to the floor together with his apple and weird yellow soup the cook previously served him.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" the student with which Kanda had crashed turned around to face his attacker, but at the sight of the deep scowl the bassist was wearing, he just gulped and slightly bowed in a pathetic try of an Oriental gesture. "I-I am sorry, Kanda"

"Get lost" the musician dryly spat. The other guy, a freshman only, readjusted his spectacles and immediately left with his half-empty tray.

"That's what I was talking about" at his back, the Chinese singer grinned wider. Allen and Lavi were heartily laughing. No, not just laughing, they were _guffawing_ at the clear demonstration of nervousness Kanda had displayed.

What the hell was wrong with him? Alright, he discovered that he may like Izzie, then, how could that change his behavior in such a way?

Upset with the incomprehensible mysteries, he let the cook serve anything random to him and left for their usual table at the farthest corner of the room.

"What are you laughing at?" Izzie asked, bewildered about the reason of their glee. With the corner of her eye, she observed Kanda leaving for their table. Beside her, Angel seemed to be equally left out of the joke, since she also raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Oh, you'll soon understand, Izzie" Allen answered when he stabilized his laughter. He patted her shoulder encouragingly before leaving with his unnatural amount of food.

"Today is the bet's deadline, right?" Lenalee questioned Lavi. The redheaded eyes glinted with scary pleasure before nodding.

"We'll see how cold or warm hearted Yuu-pon really is" he said. "Come, love," the singer directed then to Angel when her food was finally served "let's enjoy this real-life soap opera"

"What are you talking about, Lavi-kun?" Angel interrogated, to which her boyfriend only giggled. The singer winked –blinked, whatever- and that was all it took for Angel to grin too and direct one brief glance in her best friend's direction.

Walking behind the couple, Izzie wondered what they all were talking about. Did they know something she ignored? She frowned. If there was something she really hated, besides coarseness, they were secrets being kept from her so noisily. It not only represented a lack of social education, but also a lack of trust.

_Don't be so stingy _she thought for herself _it probably has to do with the weather or goblins or whatever. _Now, that seemed more logical. She told herself that she was probably overreacting and had to relax now. As a method to achieve that goal, Izzie set aside the soap and the fish to start eating the chocolate cake they gave as dessert.

"I thought you were the kind of girl to always respect social manners on the table" said Allen to her, his mouth full of meat.

"Considering that you talk with your mouth full, I don't see why I can't skip insignificant rules" the girl responded with a shrug.

"Touché" the keyboardist conceded. He pretended to continue eating, but his eyes casually crossed with blonde hair and a withering look which was definitely meant for Angel. The engines of his mind started working, but his tongue was faster.

"Hey, Angel" he pointed to Melanie with a fork "Isn't that the girl who threw that stinking bucket on you the other day?"

Tense silence.

"What?" Izzie's tone of voice raised two octaves up. She scanned the room in search for the girl that Allen had gestured to before and then looked at Angel.

"I…It was nothing, Izzie" her friend smiled "Just…"

"Bullying, that's how it's called" Lavi interrupted the girl. His face was shadowed under the effects of doom. Without looking into Angel's eyes, he related the happenings of that dreadful day that ended with a glorious date. Anyway, even though he found a way to cheer Angel up after the terrible incident, he still felt guilty for letting that happen. He knew Melanie was whimsical and, basically, a bitch, but going to those extremes never crossed his mind. He should have anticipated it.

So telling Izzie the truth, though it was not what his girlfriend wanted, felt in that moment like the only protection and help he could give to Angel.

He soon regretted it.

Izzie stood up so rapidly that none of them really noticed her actions until she stepped in front of Melanie's tall figure. She was some inches taller than Izzie, result of the high stilettos, but the way the other girl walked, together with the dark, dangerous aura she emanated, made the blonde appear smaller.

"Melanie Williams" Izzie called out loud. Some heads in the adjacent tables turned around to face the encounter.

"Yes?" Melanie answered, tossing her hair on her shoulders. She looked down at Izzie.

The slap resounded in the whole room, the dramatic effect amplified by the echo.

No amount of money could cover the price of watching Melanie's face. A storm of emotions were printed in her pretty countenance: rage, surprise, confusion, stun…

"Don't dare you touch any of my friends. Never" Izzie hissed. The calmness in her voice, the tranquil way in which the sentence flowed, instead of soothing the atmosphere, only gave a chilling air to it, almost electric.

Izzie prepared to leave, apparently oblivious to how everyone's attention was on her. Giving a step back, the girl only stopped when Melanie seized her violently by one lock of her long hair.

There was a sharp scream, some swears in the air, and the continuous shrieks of the two girls who were suddenly wrestling with each other.

Izzie bit Melanie's wrists to make her release her hair while she pressed her other hand against the blonde's face. With a gasp, Melanie released the other for a fraction of second before launching onto her until their bodies fell and tangled on the floor.

Melanie saddled over Izzie and took her head between her hands, pulling some hair out of her temples. She seemed to be about to crash Izzie's skull against the mosaics when, fortunately, obeying her hidden fighting instincts, Izzie managed to hit her attacker's hip with her knee and rolled onto her, inverting the position.

She didn't last long, however, because strong arms separated her from her contender. Taking a fast grip of her hair, Melanie pulled out some isolated locks before standing up.

"YOU ARE SICK!" the blonde screamed "PSYCHOPAT! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME!"

"Kill you?" Izzie retorted from her uncomfortable position, since her arms were tightly held at her back. "How I wish I could, you, bitch!"

"What's going on here?" A voice like a thunder flew in the air. The bodies turned into steel at the sound.

"SHE! THAT GIRL ATTACKED ME WITHOUT REASON!" Melanie shrieked out, pointing to Izzie. A tear streamed down her face. Pathetic, Izzie thought.

"Is that true, Fletcher?" the headmaster, a tall, imposing man of approximately one hundred and ten kilos, asked.

"No" Kanda's baritone answered from above Izzie head's crown "She complained about Williams bullying Leverrier"

"And then I should suppose Melanie Williams attacked her?" the adult asked skeptically. He glared once towards the blonde and again to Kanda.

The bassist sharply nodded.

"It wouldn't be the first time" Lavi interfered too. Izzie realized then that Innocence's members and Angel were standing right behind her.

She didn't know why, but she felt touch by this. Underneath all the layers of anger and fear of being punished because of her recklessness she felt, the sensation of being supported no matter what by persons she only knew for a month and a half moved tenderly her insides.

Conscious now of Kanda's hands gripping her wrists, all the negative feelings slowly drained out of her body. Still, Melanie's irritating voice replying, arose another wave of rage.

"Are you insinuating that I am the problematic? She shouldn't even be here!" The blonde snorted "Go back to Atlanta, Fletcher, with your nauseous, corrupt father!"

Izzie froze. A cold sweat covered her nape while her heart sank to the bottom of her stomach.

A train of thoughts, memories, images and sensations ran across her brain cells. She felt like throwing up.

"You crossed the line" Kanda said icily. "We're leaving now" He released Izzie's arms, which fell loosely at her sides.

"No, you are not" the headmaster ordered when Kanda grabbed the girl's wrist with the intention to drag her out. The big man gave a step forward in their direction. "Fletcher, Williams, to my office. Now"

He turned around and exited the room. Reluctantly, Melanie and her bitches' squad followed him.

"You don't have to go" Allen assured delicately. He had noticed Izzie's sudden paleness.

"Is alright" she wearily responded. Getting rid of Kanda's hold, she walked the way the headmaster had taken.

* * *

"Three days of suspension?" Angel exclaimed. She straightened her back automatically at hearing the news, sitting now at the border of the black couch.

Izzie nodded and slumped beside her "Well, it could have been worse" said she.

"But you had a perfect record!" her friend surprised. "What if this detriment your recommendation letters for college? What is your father gonna say?"

"My father is not gonna say anything because he won't be there when I enter to college" Izzie spat out dryly after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"What do you mean? He is your father. He'll surely be proud and…"

"The fucking song" Kanda thoughtfully interrupted. The bassist sauntered into Innocence's music room.

Through the large windows, Denver's big downtown's building tops were clearly visible due to the altitude. Their personal room was situated in the highest floor of Black Order's building, a perfectly private and comfortable place where they could get easily inspired just by staring at the landscape.

In the distance, big mountains were delicately profiled by the setting sun. The sounds of the city were drown, so if they all managed to stay in silence for a few minutes, the peaceful of a tranquil twilight could slip through the glass. The place was almost magic, charming.

Furnished with a complete musical set, wires and a modern computer, the large room served as the home of most of Innocence's creations. It had the characteristic taste of Lavi and Lenalee's decoration all around: walls painted of a soft baby blue color and covered with posters together with minimalistic furniture gave a somehow domestic air to the atmosphere.

The bassist stamped a sheet of paper onto the coffee table.

"Wow, you really did it" Allen commented while taking the piece of paper. He read out loud what it prayed for everyone to hear:

_You sit there in your heartache  
Waiting on some beautiful boy to  
save you from your old ways  
You play forgiveness  
Watch it now ... here he comes!_

_He doesn't look a thing like Jesus_  
_But he talks like a gentleman_  
_Like you imagined when you were young_

_Can we climb this mountain_  
_I don't know_  
_Higher now than ever before_  
_I know we can make it if we take it slow_  
_Let's take it easy_  
_Easy now, watch it go_

_We're burning down the highway skyline_  
_On the back of a hurricane that started turning_  
_When you were young_  
_When you were young_

_And sometimes you close your eyes_  
_and see the place where you used to live_  
_When you were young_

_They say the devil's water, it ain't so sweet_  
_You don't have to drink right now_  
_But you can dip your feet_  
_Every once in a little while_

_You sit there in your heartache_  
_Waiting on some beautiful boy to_  
_To save you from your old ways_  
_You play forgiveness_  
_Watch it now here he comes_

_He doesn't look a thing like Jesus_  
_But he talks like a gentleman_  
_Like you imagined when you were young_  
_(He talks like a gentlemen, like you imagined when)_  
_When you were young_

_I said he doesn't look a thing like Jesus_  
_He doesn't look a thing like Jesus_  
_But more than you'll ever know_

"Fail! ~~" Lavi exclaimed after Allen had read the last verse. His grin grew wider. "That's not a cheesy song~"

"What the fuck? It talks about a stupid woman finding a stupid jerk, how can't that be cheesy?" Kanda angrily retorted. Still, he didn't seem that infuriated at all since there was a false indignation note in his exclamation. In fact, it was as if he had expected it, but his pride didn't let him show that.

"And in which part does it say 'I love you', huh?" the redheaded answered. "A love song is not a love song if it doesn't say love, simple logic"

"Well, I'd have to differ from that, but Lavi is right," Lenalee pointed out "That is not cheesy"

"Tsch, love is not always cheesy" was the bassist's lame answer.

"Wrong! Love IS cheesy" Lavi said.

"Not necessarily" Izzie exclaimed. Everybody turned to see her, especially Kanda, and demanded an explanation with their eyes. Realizing that she had to continue with her argument, Izzie clicked her tongue and shrugged "Sincere love is not always cheesy. In fact, twee is the best way to kill a relationship, in my opinion."

Shit, why did she keep saying things Kanda wanted to hear? He curse in his insides, too stunned to let the words flow through his open mouth. That girl was going to be the end of him.

"I thought that girls liked sentimentalism and that" Allen commented, confused by Izzie's abnormal affirmation.

"Well," she shrugged "Many girls do like it, but guess that's not my case" Izzie said. Her eyes flickered a moment between Kanda's slightly flabbergasted expression and the floor, wondering how was his brain processing that information.

If she only knew that his brain was actually not working…

"Daisya-chan, how are you my dear friend?" Lavi suddenly exclaimed into his phone's receiver killing the weird silence.

Kanda jumped at the name. He hastily turned around to see how his redheaded companion spoke to the hateful man in the phone.

"Lavi!" Izzie jolted off her seat when she realized what he was doing too.

Oblivious to their reactions, Lavi kept on talking in an unnatural loud tone "Wanna have a date on Saturday? You know, that raven girl that fought with Melanie Williams."

Kanda clenched his hands into fists. There was an eighty five percent of his body that yearned to strangle Lavi, nevertheless, the other fifteen percent which dominated his impulses ordered him to stay in place. A bet was a bet and he, intentionally or not, lost it.

Possessiveness or pride? Selfish love or infatuation?

"Yes, yes, that one exactly. Blind date, man" the singer continued talking "Fine, Saturday six o'clock in Quentin's."

"Lavi, no!" Izzie launched herself forward with the aim of taking the cell phone away of Lavi's hands. The singer, however, dodged Izzie's attempts easily. He jumped onto a loveseat in one corner of the room and finished his conversation there.

"You owe me one, then. See you" he pressed the red button. "Hey, Izzie-chan, I got a date for you!"

"But I never agreed to it!" Izzie protested. She groaned under her breathe.

"A bet is a bet, Izzie" Allen grinned maliciously at them, especially at Kanda's infuriated face "You may like Daisya, think about that"

"He is a fucking weird emo, there's no way she'll like him" Kanda growled.

"Well, he seemed really enthusiastic about the idea of going out with Izzie-chan. Who knows, maybe they'll fall in love~" Lavi tuned out.

"Well, going back to business" Lenalee said before Izzie could be able to make another reply or Kanda to commit multiple homicides "That song needs notes. Let's work, guys!"

* * *

A/U: Oh my Gosh! This took longer than expected. I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LATENESS! Three weeks of classes and I already feel like dying x_x Damn you, High School!

I am really sorry, I know this took about three weeks! Is just that I really couldn't find time for writing, with each day that passed, I grew more and more desperate xD Finally, I managed to write this :D

I hope you understand, chapters may take about this long to be updated, to please, please be patient. I promise I'll do my best to make this faster, but I also have other fanfictions to write and school work to do and to study hard. If I want to get into Medical School, I really need to study .

Well, special thanks to OMGILovetoOmNomNoms for song recommendation, it was: When you were young by The Killers. Hey, I managed to put it in the story! yay!

Alright, so Kanda didn't write the cheesy song. Okay, he did, but didn't have the guts to show it. Will Izzie ever contemplate it? Will she go to the blind date?

Since updating is surely going to take some time, I'll leave a tiny preview of next chapter. It may not happen exactly as I publish it here now, because things usually change while writing and don't go the way it is expected.

Thank you for your support! Really, Really, thanks! I had never reached 100 reviews before, when I saw that I have achieved that, my world brightened. It really means a lot to me knowing that you guys like the story, so don't doubt in leaving a review! Thank you very much, you are awesome!

_Preview:_

_What was he doing there, was beyond his comprehension. It was as if his body drove him to Quentin's principal entrance. Watching through the window at the scene taking place inside from his black car, his guts twisted with jealousy. _

_He should be the one with her. _

_He observed the scene. They both were talking. Her expression suddenly changed from one of forced delight to a completely offended one. Her date made her upset, the inconspicuous spy thought, he probably insulted her. The musician tightened his grip on the steering wheel of his car. _

_To follow his instincts. Being reckless was not anything new to him. He got off the car and crossed the restaurant's glass doors just the moment the girl stalked in that direction. She stopped abruptly at watching him there._

_"Let's go" his deep baritone ordered. Seizing her thin forearm, he dragged her out. _

_The sunlight greeted their figures walking down the street._


	31. Chapter 31 Three Times a Lady

_Innocence Rock Time! ~_

Why was she there? She tried to remember…oh yes, because Lavi was really really stubborn and adamant whenever he meant it. And with Angel, Lenalee and Allen supporting him, it was hard to refuse going out to the infamous date.

Besides, Izzie thought that it may be a great shot. It had already passed a good time –about two weeks- since Kanda last made any attempt to approach her, back in the music room.

It was frustrating to see him utterly ignoring her, acting as if she didn't exist, as if they never kissed, as if they never touched. The last week had been the worst one. At least, before delivering the supposed-to-be-cheesy song, Kanda used to give her one or two glances per day, now, he seemed to endeavor averting his eyes from her.

She came to the conclusion that he didn't really give a damn about her. All the kisses, the touches, the words, they were only games to him, a cruel diversion.

The pain of her wounded pride was far greater than the one of her broken heart. So Kanda thought he could fool her and walk away like if nothing had happened, huh? Did he believe her a stupid, little sentimentalist girl? Was he expecting her to cry and beg at his feet?

He better went to hell. Izzie was resentful and injured. Not even the fact that he received a shot because of her while they tried to escape eased the resentment in her soul.

He knew she liked him, and that was, perhaps, the worst part of the issue. She wanted to prove him wrong, even when he was completely right. She wanted him to see what he let go.

So there she was, waiting at the entrance of Quentin's for Daisya to arrive. The man was already twenty minutes late, which wasn't helping the first impression he could cause on her. She hated lateness. Punctuality was a virtue.

She glimpsed anxiously at the black car parked opposite to the restaurant. Its tinted windows obstructed the sight of the occupant, and maybe she was being paranoid, but Izzie swore that car had followed Lavi's vehicle all the way there.

_Paranoia, _she shook her head, directing her gaze to her feet _that's how they call this. Calm down. _

"Hey!" somebody called. She jolted apart when a hand grabbed her by the shoulder and faced the arrived man.

She recognized him from a picture Lavi showed her previously in the car.

Daisya's black hair was covered by the cap of his black hoodie. The makeup that he usually wore under his eyes was cleaned, revealing a flawless skin that immediately reminded Izzie of Kanda's. Biting her tongue at the memory, she continued her fast analysis. He wasn't tall; in fact, he was barely taller than her and definitely shorter than Kanda, which she didn't like at all.

"Izzie Fletcher, right, dear?" Daisya spat out. His voice was rude, but not the same rudeness of Kanda's, but a sound more cheerful and active, distinct from the bassist's coldness.

She needed to stop comparing them.

"Mind if we get inside? It is windy here" he adjusted his hoodie so it didn't fell from his head under the wind's lash.

Surrounding her shoulders with his arms, he leaded them to the interior of the restaurant.

Izzie immediately fell uncomfortable under his touch. His arm was heavy and he didn't aim to release her from the pressure, on the other hand, he put more in it as they followed one waitress to their assigned table. She smelled a slight scent of liquor and cigarettes in his breathe when he talked.

Daisya slumped on the closest chair and snatched the menu away from the waitress's hands.

Izzie grimaced. No manners. None at all, it was worse than Kanda…

She had to stop.

Elegantly, she sat down on the opposite chair. She kindly thanked the woman who served them and dismissed her according to all the social manners to make up for her companion's rudeness.

"This is bloody expensive!" Daisya said out loud when he looked at the list of dishes in the menu. Some persons turned around from the adjacent tables to glare at the noisy teen.

Izzie's cheeks burnt. "This is an elegant restaurant," she hissed, getting closer to him across the table so that their neighbors wouldn't hear "it is supposed to be expensive"

"Get only the salad" he ordered in an embarrassing loud voice. "And water, I'm not paying for anything more"

She clicked her tongue. That guy was even more infuriating than Kan…

"Well, I'll pay for my meal, alright?" she declared. Scanning the menu in search of a tasty dinner, she tried to make her best to ignore the continuous complains her date was making.

The waitress returned to take the orders. Izzie was just opening her mouth to speak when Daisya interrupted her.

"Lobster and a beer" said the male rudely and tossed the menu aside.

"And you, miss?" the employer directed her gaze to Izzie.

"Just a glass of water, thank you" said the girl; she had the sensation that she was not staying any longer there.

"Alright, it'll be here in a few minutes" the waitress kindly affirmed and walked away.

"I thought you didn't want to spend money" Izzie raised an eyebrow curiously. What a contradiction this man was.

Daisya shrugged nonchalantly "I'm a man. I eat more"

"Are you insinuating that you are willing to spend more in you than in your date?" Izzie exclaimed, not believing such nonsense. With what kind of man Lavi wanted to match her?

"I eat a lot. That's all" he responded.

They stayed in an uncomfortable silence for some minutes. Izzie looked outside the window to the street, where the black car was still parked. She was sure nobody had yet come out of it, but maybe she just didn't see the owner getting off. Yet, there was something kind of familiar in the vehicle; it was as if she had seen it before. Not interested in motors and car topics, she was not really able to distinguish the differences between a BMW and a Lamborghini, neither to recognize a car if she saw it unless it was of someone really close to her.

Anyway, the way the silhouette of the automobile resounded in her head made her grow more and more curious about it.

"So, tell me, are you always that wild?" Daisya brought her back from her musings. She turned around to face him with a questioning look.

"Wild?" she asked.

"Yes, like when you fought with Williams" he commented. A mischievous, nasty glint made his eyes shine when he surveyed her reaction. Maybe more than her reaction.

"Amm…well, I was angry then and didn't think too much" Izzie vaguely answered. She was still feeling ashamed of the thoughtless way she had acted because of her rage. But she couldn't blame herself at all, that bitch had bullied her best friend…

"And are you like that on the bed?" he smirked.

Izzie's brain needed some seconds to process the information. Her cheeks blushed of indignation when she finally understood what Daisya implied.

"What kind of naughty question is that?" she exclaimed, infuriated.

Daisya's smirk turned into a lusty grin. Nasty, nasty, nasty.

"I mean, there's a reason why Kanda and Mikk are after you. You are not that pretty or sexy, so I guess the only reason they followed your ass is because of amazing sex" said he.

Izzie didn't know what to respond. Her jaw fell of surprise. What kind of stupid conclusion was that? Didn't he know anything about Tyki being her kidnapper? The hypothesis of that was in every news bulletin around the country.

She wasn't that pretty or sexy? Then, in his twisted reflections, the only reason why any man would ever want to be with her was because of amazing sex?

Unbelievable.

He continued talking before she could even come up to a retort.

"I wonder if you have ever _done it_ in a car. We can get steamed in mine after this. There's no better way of burning calories than sweating next to each other, right?" he smiled. Izzie could feel his eyes checking her out without any dissimulation.

The boiling point arrived when he stared blatantly at her…

She hastily stood up, stamping the table's surface with her hand. "Stay away from me" Izzie said icily.

The girl took her purse from the table and stalked away, the customers' eyes following her figure, bewildered about her sudden leaving.

"Hey, Fletcher!" Izzie heard Daisya calling. Ignoring him, she walked past the small, elegant lobby.

The door was pushed just before she could grab it to exit the place. Her breath escaped through her open lips when a certain face appeared in her vision field.

She gawked. In her life she ever remembered seeing him that handsome, gorgeous, _glorious_. Maybe it was just the way the wind made his long black hair wave, or maybe it was just the glint in his eyes.

Therefore, Izzie couldn't help but stare dumbly at the godly face in front. After being forced to look at someone like Daisya, his features were like an oasis in the desert.

"Izzie, where the fuck are you- Hey, Kanda" Daisya stopped the moment he saw the weird scene in front. Izzie was staring dazzlingly at Kanda's face, while the male bassist exchanged cold glares between the girl and the other teen.

With one swift motion, he seized Izzie's forearm and pulled her closer to his body.

"Let's go" the Japanese barked.

"Hey, she is with me!" grabbing Izzie's other arm, Daisya pulled her in his direction. A small shriek of surprise escaped the girl's mouth when she found herself tripping to the footballer's direction. With more strength than necessary, he wrapped her wrist.

"Go fuck your mother, idiot" Kanda spat. He threw a blow to Daisya's left cheek, making the victim stumble back under the impact. His fingers released Izzie's arm to cover the side of his face which was now turning red.

Taking advantage of his distraction, the Japanese musician grabbed Izzie's wrist again and exited the restaurant. At their backs, murmurs, curses and other type of exclamations were heard, but immediately muffled as they made their way down the street.

The agonizing sun illuminated with its dim rays the figures of both teenagers walking to a desolated park some blocks away from Quentin's. The old trees covered a dirty sidewalk made out of eroded paving stones which may had been beautiful some years ago, but now remained dying in some middle space between asphalt, civilization and dead magnificence.

Somehow, the lonely park gave Izzie a refreshing sensation of peace and harmony. After being enclosed in the restaurant with such a jackass, the open space allowed her to have a breath.

Besides, Kanda's presence was also comforting. It was when she was next to him the only way that she could feel safe after days of fear. He was like her anchor, her protector, her port. Even when he was just playing around with her, she still wanted to be with him; she wanted to be fooled because it felt so damn good. The realization of this made her shudder. Was her sentimentalism getting over her pride? Some minutes ago she was pretty convinced that it was the other way around, yet, whenever she was next to him, every coherent affirmation vanished to leave just that warmness in her soul that whispered how badly she longed to stay with him.

He made her heard drown her reason. Away from him, everything was crystal clear. Near him, her mind overcastted, her senses went numb, her heart governed her thoughts.

Stupid, stupid little thoughtless heart.

Izzie suddenly wanted to get away, to run away from those incoherent sensations, but her feet remained following his long strides.

Silence embraced them. They didn't need words, and they didn't want to talk either. Izzie was so confused, so engrossed in her own thoughts that she hardly noticed anything else besides his hand on her skin.

He, on his side, was just wondering. Wondering if he should tell her the truth, if he should kiss her –he wanted so badly to kiss her- or if he just needed to walk the same way they were doing. Never mind, that didn't matter, he felt good for the moment, just them both, with no interruptions.

But there was something still buzzing in the back of each one's head.

"Why did you come?" both of them asked at the same time.

Kanda pursed his lips. "Answer the question" he blurted out before she could do the same.

"It was my date" Izzie shrugged nonchalantly, gazing at some couple of pigeons who landed onto one of the old tree's branches. Their song reminded the girl of an old movie's soundtrack. "You were the one who didn't have anything to do at the restaurant. Why did you go?"

Kanda didn't answer. She didn't yearn for a response either, afraid of any harsh retort he could give her. Since when did she care about people being harsh at her?

A cold breeze caressed her skin, carrying some dead leaves with it. She shuddered underneath the thin fabric of her sweater, which didn't offer a lot of protection against the early autumn's winds.

"Tsch" at her side, Kanda exclaimed. He finally let go of her wrist, tired of keeping the contact, Izzie thought.

She hugged herself with her slim arms in a futile intent of keeping warmth, until something hastily covered her shoulders, as if they had tossed the item onto her back.

Izzie touched the fabric of the heavy blazer. The strong scent of cologne that arose to her nose indicated that it was only one person's belonging. Stunned with the chivalrousness, she lifted her head to see how Kanda kept on averting his gaze from her, his arms now exposed to the wildness of nature.

She smirked, a small gesture of satisfaction. Well, at least he was kind of a gentleman. She slid her arms into the long sleeves of the jacket, appreciating how the last centimeters of the piece fell loosely beyond her fingers. The warmness of the cloth together with the one remaining from Kanda's body regulated her temperature immediately.

They continued walking around the park, under the multicolor trees, in complete silence. An old, metallic bench appeared then in front of them.

Without any spoken words, they walked to it. Just after Izzie had sat down that Kanda's cell phone started to ring violently inside one of the blazer's pockets.

Izzie took it instantly and handed the device to the expecting hand of Kanda. He flinched at the caller: Lavi. Knowing that the stupid adamant rabbit wouldn't stop calling no matter how many times he ignored his mobile, he decided to end with his disturbance and smashed the green button.

"What?" the Japanese snarled into the receiver.

Izzie observed him while he argued in the phone. Once again, she introduced her hand into the pocket; curious at something she felt when she picked the phone.

A sheet of paper came out. It was crumpled, but the words were still legible beneath the wrinkles.

Her heart stopped when she read the title:

_Izzie's song_

She scanned the paper frenetically, each word awakening every bit of hope that she could have still saved inside.

_Thanks for the times  
That you've given me  
The memories are all in my mind  
And now that we've come  
To the end of our rainbow  
There's something  
I must say out loud  
You're once, twice  
Three times a lady  
And I love you  
Yes you're once, twice  
Three times a lady  
And I love you  
I love you_

_When we are together_  
_The moments I cherish_  
_With every beat of my heart_  
_To touch you, to hold you_  
_To feel you, to need you_  
_There's nothing to keep us apart_  
_You're once, twice_  
_Three times a lady_  
_And I love you_  
_Yes you're once, twice_  
_Three times a lady_  
_And I love you_  
_I love you_

No word in the immensity of the universe could ever describe the way she felt. It was like a mixture of glee, surprise, happiness, amaze, stun, joy… Or maybe none of them at all.

The facts slowly slid through her consciousness. Her numb brain processed the new acquired information rapidly, even though she couldn't tell if it was still working. A flash of images, sensations, memories washed her senses while she tried to contain the butterflies in her stomach.

Just when she started to wonder if that was even fathomable, Kanda snatched the paper out of her trembling hands.

"What the hell are you doing with this?" the bassists stormed. His voice raised one pitch higher, a hint of hysteria hearable in it.

Izzie sheepishly lifted her eyes to meet his face. She expected a grimace, a flinch, a scowl, but never got time to prepare for what her eyes contemplated: a blush.

His cheeks were gleaming with a slight pink color.

For the first time in her life, she thought that the adjective _cute_ was perfectly suitable for him. He looked cute, like a kid who had been surprised in the middle of a mischief and didn't know how to deny the veracity of the proofs.

Her lips curved into a smile involuntarily. The world seemed to be new again.

"Answer my question! Did you-did you read it?" he demanded, growing in hysterics.

Izzie nodded. It was a great change to see the places turned all the way around for once and watch him being the one unsettled. His startled expression filled her with the flavor of victory together with some weird homonym of tenderness towards him.

"I-Why? Why did you-"

"Chist, don't say anything" she interrupted serenely. "You are going to scare the birds"

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, and closed it again when no words attended his lips. The blush slowly disappeared, leaving the same marbled-chiseled face she was so used to see.

"Who called?" she asked nonchalantly to ease his rioted nerves. Her plan seemed to function, since the old scowl returned to his features.

"Lavi" he spat dryly.

"What did he want?" Izzie continued with the 'nothing-happened' charade. It was refreshing; having to be the one controlling the situation felt nice.

"He babbled some stupid thing about someone searching-" he cut the phrase, darting one quick glimpse towards her.

Papers came back to normal.

"Babbled something about…?" Izzie inquired; curious about the way he averted his eyes and grimaced. There was something, her sixth sense warned her, that he didn't want to say.

"Paparazzi" he improvised successfully "Let's go" grabbing her hand, he roughly helped her up the bench and backtracked the path they had followed before.

Next to the sidewalk, a gray Mercedes was parked. Izzie immediately recognized the plates shinning in the front part.

_Georgia 2467 HPK_

Could it be? Could it…

The metallic door opened to let someone step out.

Black shoes. Black trousers. She froze in place.

Slowly, her eyes trailed up to come face to face with the last person she wanted to see in life.

"Izzie" the man gave one step forward, opening his arms in a welcoming gesture, as if she had just arrived home after a long field trip.

Just that she never considered going back home as a possibility.

The words came dryly through her lips. At her side, she could feel Kanda stiffening at hearing her voice:

"Father"

* * *

A/N: Well, this was faster! Thank my apparent disappearance of sleep and a huge amount of inspiration for this chapter. I had it already planned inside my head and couldn't wait to write it!

I have really not too much to say, just the same as always: Thank you so much for your support, the reviews, Favorite, Alerts, they really cheer me up.

IZZIE FOUND THE SONG~~ yaay! I had a hard time deciding if she should find it or not, but at the end, well, this just wrote itself.

Izzie's dad is in the picture now...interesting...

What about a review now? Eh Eh? *Puppy eyes* haha

Btw, song here: Three Times a Lady by the Commodores, but I decided to use Cobra Starship's cover which is shorter.

Sayo Sayo, gotta study now :/


	32. Chapter 32 Dead line

_Innocence Rock Time~_

Kanda swore for his insides. Lavi's warn now acquired sense inside his head.

"_He is here, he may be tracking you down, I don't know. Komui told him she was at Quentin's. You are about to meet your father-in-law!"_

Father-in-law. That was what the stupid rabbit tried to say with that one incoherent sentence. He should have guessed before.

Didn't they understand that Izzie didn't feel comfortable whenever they mentioned her father? It was obvious that something not very pleasant went on while she was Tyki's hostage. The way she averted her eyes and fidgeted with her fingers whenever the candidate's –now Atlanta's major- name was pronounced should have been enough for them to get the message.

But no! They, especially the other new girl with the dyed hair, kept on talking about Fletcher like he was some kind of hero. Even Komui, which was supposed to be the more caring, gave the stupid man Izzie's whereabouts for him to find her easily around town.

His suspects about Izzie's antagonism with her procreator confirmed by the way her shoulders squared at the sight of him.

"Izzie, darling, you are okay" the brunette man sighed relieved. He intended to walk to them with his open arms, but Izzie stepped back immediately, pale and thrilled.

At least, the grown up man was sensible enough to notice that small movement which indicated total rejection. Kanda surveyed his face as it changed from relief to anxiety.

He was in his forties, with brunette hair that was already thinning in his temples. The eyes were of the same violet as Izzie's, although the rest of the features were completely different. She may have taken after her mother.

"You don't know how happy I am to see that you are alright. I was so afraid that that man could have done anything bad to you, but you are fine." Said he. Fletcher tried to soften his expression to a warm one, even though, in his eyes only remorse was visible.

Warily, Kanda observed Izzie from the corner of his eye. A ghost had more color than her. He even knew that her lips were completely white beneath the pink lipstick that now stood out noticeably.

The girl was petrified. The eyes became suddenly glossy, like if all they wanted to do was letting a teardrop fall. In contrast with her father's apparent stoicism, the older man abruptly appeared insensitive, cruel, and oblivious to her daughter's torment.

A wave of protective instinct arose in Kanda's insides. At that moment, just like that one day in his house, she seemed so defenseless and little that the mere sight of her weakness detonated a sensitive fiber in him.

"Honey, stop looking at me like that. I came for you" Fletcher intended again to approximate his daughter, but this time it was Kanda the one who blocked the action.

He gave half a step forward and crossed an arm in front of Izzie instinctively.

"Go away" Kanda hissed like an infuriated snake. The hatred in his voice surprised even himself.

"Excuse me? Do I have to ask for a permission to talk to my own daughter?" Fletcher blinked curiously at Kanda. He surveyed his young figure rapidly, like evaluating his physical gifts. –A/N: which are a lot, *cough*- as if he hadn't noticed his presence before.

"You don't have it" Kanda deadpanned dryly. He furrowed dangerously his eyebrows in the man's direction.

"May I ask who are you to forbid me the right to talk to Izzie?" Fletcher replied, his voice edging in the irritation.

Kanda thought Fletcher was trying to be a gentleman despite the anger he was surely feeling, but his poker face wasn't that good though. Without any logic reason, this only helped to raise the bassist's aversion towards this man. Surely Izzie learnt to keep her feelings inside until they exploded from him.

If there was something Kanda hated about himself was how reckless he could be whenever he got angry or upset. He tended to blurt out things he normally wouldn't say out loud, or just punch the first person that appeared in front of him. His character was bad, he knew it, yet, the teen never attempted to correct it because he never thought it necessary. Up to that moment, at least.

"Her boyfriend" the words came out from his mouth clear and loud.

The intensity of Izzie's eyes fixated on him helped him realize what he had just said. His chest seemed to stretch in distress, but the layers of anger suppressed the feeling upon seeing Fletcher's incensed expression.

Still, the feeling of having screwed it all remained beneath the fury.

"What does this mean, Izzie?" Fletcher scowled to his daughter. "Is that true? With a man like this?"

Izzie's heart pounded loudly against her ribs. She couldn't tell which emotion made it race like that –surprise, anger, fear, excitement- yet, her mind remained clear enough to remember the reasons of keeping the anger over the rest of the feelings.

Telling yes to her father was suddenly like saying yes to an unspoken proposal from Kanda's behalf. If that was only a charade or was it a straightforward confession, she didn't have the time to tell.

"Yes" she finally spoke.

The words flowed firmer than she expected, perhaps a product of Kanda's demeanor in the matter. Somehow, having him saying aloud that he was her boyfriend made her feel more secure about herself, made her feel protected and unconditionally accompanied in the hardship. She needn't to be all strong by herself.

"Have you looked at him once, at his extravagant haircut? I was expecting more from you" Fletcher scolded.

"I think disappointing each other is a family virtue, father" Izzie flatly responded.

Slowly, James Fletcher's outraged countenance changed to one of complete remorse. He pressed his lips in a taunt line, while his eyes wetted with regret.

"Izzie, honey, I am really sorry. I-"

"No, you aren't" The girl cut him harshly. "Don't pretend you regret sacrificing my life for power. I know you are not sorry"

"Honey,-"

"Don't 'honey' me!" her voice raised one octave up, the high-pitch of her hysteria resounding over the singing of the birds and the horns of the distant cars. It was coming out, everything was finally coming out.

"Izzie-"

"You changed me! You preferred the stupid mayoralty, right? Don't lie to me, everything you wanted was to see me cold in my tomb. Don't pretend you want me back." She freaked out. Kanda fully contemplated her discomposed face. The puffy, red eyes that still refused letting the tears out were fixated upon some point of the asphalt. She was trembling really badly, strong shivers shaking her petite body.

"It hurt me, Iz. You don't know how hard it was to reject the deal, but I had to look after the great benefit, the big picture. I was so anguished and regretful that I thought I could never be able to keep on living." Fletcher explained with trembling voice. He played with the borders of his trousers nervously.

He kept on talking "When I heard you were alive, my life brightened again. I had to look after them, Izzie, but that doesn't mean I don't love you more than my life."

Lonely teardrops slid down his tanned face. Under the eyes, purple rings from the lack of sleep shone with the salad water that started streaming.

Izzie struggled against the need of forgiving him. He looked so sorrowful that it even hurt her. However, the fact that he exchanged her life for something as superficial as power murdered every mercy that she could have felt. He delivered her to the cold hands of death; the only difference was that death decided not to take her.

"I don't believe you" said the girl after seconds of silent deliberation. "I'm leaving now" getting herself together, she spun on her heels.

Fletcher tried to reach her, but, once again, Kanda hinder his movements towards the girl. The bassist extended his arm across the elder's chest while the rest of his body turned to look at her proclaimed girlfriend.

The Mayor tried to talk from behind the Japanese's barrier "Izzie, please, don't be this cruel, I-"

"Cruel? Now I am being cruel?" she turned around just enough to watch her father through the corner of her eye. "You send me to holocaust. Then you appear and criticize the only person that seems to really care about me. I think you should reconsider your definition of cruelty"

"Let's just talk, Izzie, I think we can reach an agreement, please"

"An agreement? I am not one of your allies or co-workers, dad. I am not a disposable person, I am _your daughter!"_

"Exactly, Iz, you are my daughter, my only family, I cannot lose you like this. I cannot bear not seeing you anymore"

"LIAR!" Izzie shrieked. She disconnected the gaze from her father's eyes and continued straying with unsure steps without stopping her speech.

"Don't ever seek me again. Go back to when you thought I was dead, because I am truly gone for you" were her last words.

Izzie ignored her father's calls. Hardening her heart as much as she could, the girl strayed slowly from the men's side. She wanted to run back and hug her father, to feel herself being stretched between his arms, but she was just too resentful for that.

Big tears finally rolled down her cheeks upon realizing that from her past life there were only ashes left. She was never going back home, perhaps never visiting her mother's tomb either. Life in Atlanta was suddenly alien, unreachable, buried with her nonexistent corpse.

She knew that meeting her father again was unthinkable, albeit, the idea of abandoning everything she loved never crossed her mind until that moment.

The sense of abandonment washed over her like a cold bucket of water. She stumbled to one old tree where she ended up leaning on to avoid falling to the ground.

Travelling with the band was unsettling. Living far away from her home was hard. Being abandoned to her luck by her father was painful. But leaving her life and the security of her home willingly was the worst of all.

Going back to her room was not an option. She had nothing now. She was alone.

"Tsch, let's go home" a deep baritone said. She distinguished Kanda's profile standing at her side.

Izzie bitterly laughed "Where is that, eh?"

* * *

"Here" Kanda pushed a cup of hot tea in her direction. Izzie was absentmindedly sitting down at the Japanese-style table that Kanda had in the living room of his home.

Izzie didn't make an attempt to grab the cup; she just kept on looking at her lap silently.

Kanda sat down in front of her, at the opposite side of the table. He sipped his own tea tranquilly, occasionally darting looks to his guest.

Her fair skin was even paler now except for the leftover red marks around her eyes, remains of her bitter crying. She looked kind of sick. The Japanese man thought about asking her to rest, but he knew it was better just to leave her alone to get herself together. It wasn't as if she was going to hear him, anyway.

Izzie's cell phone vibrated onto the table for the umpteenth time.

She briefly glanced at it before Kanda retired it from her reach. He smashed the red button and turned the device off immediately after.

"Oi, why did you do that?" Izzie complained.

"You are not answering it anyway. The sound annoys me" Kanda replied nonchalantly.

Izzie didn't even attempt to retort because she knew it was true. For the last hour different persons had yearned to establish some type of contact with her: her father, Komui, Angel, Lavi, Lenalee, even Allen, who rarely messed up with her problems. Probably her father had spread the news that she refused to accept him back in her life and everybody was just going to advocate for his cause.

It seemed in those moments that the only person that was willing to support her without questions or judgments was Kanda. Like that day in the hotel when she received the dreadful phone call from her dad, his silent presence was everything she needed to feel comforted.

Likewise, Kanda ignored it every time his mobile or home phone rang. Aside from any stupid, crazy, perseverant fangirl, the only ones who were probable to know his phone number were the band members and some random Black Order workers, so the reason for such adamancy had to forcefully be related with Izzie's matter. To support his theory, different messages were left in the answering machine by the rabbit's girlfriend requesting them to report immediately in the Black Order where Fletcher was helplessly whimpering.

Izzie just stiffened the two times that happened, never moving from her position. Truthfully, she had no intentions of leaving Kanda's home anytime soon, especially if that implied seeing the man that gave her life to sacrifice it afterwards.

There, in the bassist's flat, everything was peaceful again. Just the two of them, alone, enclosed from the rest of the world, was Izzie's best comforting zone. She hadn't realized how much she relied on Kanda up to that moment. From the very beginning of the adventure, his phlegmatic behavior resulted sedative to her rioted senses. She had never met someone like him in her entire life, someone that was able to watch her either wretched or distressed without asking obsessively about what had happened or how she felt. He just let her be, and that was better than any word at all.

"About the boyfriend thing" Kanda murmured after another hour had passed. Izzie lifted her eyes to meet his aloof countenance. "You don't have to take it seriously if you don't-" he gulped "-want to"

He stood up and walked back to the kitchen, leaving the girl alone in the living room to meditate after his words.

She hadn't really thought fully about it even when the memory of his words remained ringing someplace in the back of her head. Now, upon recalling it, the remembrance attended his mind automatically.

"_May I ask who are you to forbid me the right to talk to Izzie?"_

"_Her boyfriend"_

_Her boyfriend. Her boyfriend. _

"_What does this mean, Izzie? Is that true?"_

"_Yes"_

Was it true? Did Kanda have just left the matter to her decision? That meant, then, that he did want to make that statement true.

A warm spot appeared in the center of her wounded heart. She stood up and followed him into the kitchen. She found the bassist washing the dishes.

"What if I want to?" Izzie inquired from the doorway.

Kanda finished scrubbing the cup and closed the faucet parsimoniously. With the same swift movements, he lifter his head until his gaze locked hers.

"Then just take it like that" He shrugged.

Silence.

"This is awkward" Izzie finally commented.

"Tsch, prepare soba"

"I thought you didn't like my soba"

"Then starve" Kanda walked past her with his long strides. Izzie may have hallucinated, but she could swear the hint of a smile was visible in his lips.

* * *

"If you don't stop calling I'm gonna stick that phone of yours up your nasty ass" Kanda blurted into the receiver. He gazed at the digital clock on top of his side bed table. 2:00 a.m.

"I think Izzie-chan and you are the ones being nasty now" Lavi responded mischievously from the other side of the line. "Or tell me why she hasn't come back to the Black Order"

Kanda could feel his cheeks heating up. Stupid, stupid rabbit. He hoped Izzie, who was installed in her old room, hadn't woken up with his outraged exclamation. Perhaps he should decrease the volume of his voice.

Wait, wait, was he caring about her? Why the hell did he care if she was asleep or not? It was her fucking life; she could do whatever she wanted.

"IZZIE-CHAN, STOP KISSING YUU-CHII AND LET HIM TALK TO ME~" the redheaded sang loudly when Kanda didn't respond.

"Shit, idiot, shut the fuck up. What do you want?" The bassist hissed.

"So Izzie is with you, eh, eh? Angel-chan won't be happy to know that you deflowered her friend~"

Shit, shit, shit. Images flowing to his brain…shit, shit, shit. Since when did he feel so guilty when thinking about undressing a…

He turned the mobile off and tossed it to some invisible part between his sheets.

After some seconds, the ring of his home phone flew from the living to his room. When he didn't respond it, the answering machine started to record Lavi's message.

"Don't hang me up, Yuu-chii~ IZZIE, IZZIE-CHAN, I KNOW YOU ARE OVER THERE! IN CASE YOU ARE INTERESTED, KANDA PREFERS HANDJOB RATHER THAN BLOWJOB!"

Kanda hastily stormed out of his room and into the living. He dedicated one fast glance towards Izzie's door, which was closer to the phone than his.

Shit.

"HE ALSO HAS A NECK FETISH, SO DON'T BE SURPRISED IF TOMORROW SOME HICKEYS APPEAR! IF YOU HAVE YOUR BRA STILL-"

Kanda picked up the phone in that moment "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" he snarled.

Lavi chuckled. "Sad this is the only way I can grab your attention, Yuu-chii"

"I am hanging now and disconnecting the stupid line" the bassist deadpanned.

"Wait, wait, I have something important to say!" the redheaded replied.

"Three"

"Three what? Want a trio?"

-Dead line-

The phone rang again. Kanda picked it up immediately before the answering machine started making its job. "Two-"

"We have a presentation in two weeks at the Beta Nightclub, we'll choose songs tomorrow"

"One"

-Dead line-

* * *

A/N: Yay! Finally I could publish this! It is about 23:43 pm and, although it is relatively soon for me to go to bed, I am absolutely worn out, so sorry if there are some grammar/spelling mistakes here.

I truly don't like Izzie and Fletcher's encounter, ugh. Probably I'll make them talk seriously later, but I don't see Izzie very willing to do that.

As you can see, this was totally KandaxIzzie chapter, next ones will focus a bit more on Angel and Lavi, oooh I miss so much that couple! And I know I have taken away some spotlight from the Allena, but they'll have their chance later-later, later, laaateeeeeer- so don't be too mad at me :)

Thank you so much for the support/reviews/alerts/favorites, they really encourage me and cheer me up!

Beta Nightclub is coming, as well as the end :( who knows? Maybe three more chaps. I am really excited about starting Attached Strings~

Err...what else? Don't you love when Lavi bothers Kazzie? (Kazzie HAHAHAHA xD)

Gotta leave now, my pillow is seducing me~

Reviews?

Have nice dreams, guys!


	33. Chapter 33 Your guardian angel

_Innocence RockTime ~_

The garage's gate lifted up automatically to let the black car drive in. Between the gray Audi and the wall, the owner of the house parked his vehicle and turned the engine off.

Out came Kanda. His tall, slim figure slammed the door aggressively before heading to the back part of the car to open the boot.

He grunted while taking out the purple, feminine suitcase. It was somehow degrading to have Izzie bossing him around, and it was worse because she thought she had the right call him to order him to do things such as fetching her luggage from Black Order headquarters, right in front of everyone.

Who did she think she was, his mother?

A pincer clenched his chest. A mother. A father. A family. Certainly, all of them had been unreachable throughout his life. Dead during a car accident when he was still a baby boy, his parent's memories were practically nonexistent, yet, a single photograph kept by Tiedoll, his legal guardian, could make him miss them like if he remembered everything they lived together.

"Tsch" He shook his head. He was getting fucking sentimental. An orphan, that was what he was, nothing else, and the idea fitted in his mind like a piece of a puzzle, without any feelings attached to it.

That happened like seventeen years ago, it couldn't affect him now that he was almost an adult.

Carrying the suitcase angrily, he walked in the house through the door that connected the garage to the rest of the building.

A strange smell reached him from the kitchen. He flinched at the seasoned scent instinctively. Dropping the luggage beside the kitchen's entrance, he pushed the door open and observed the scene from the threshold.

Izzie was there, setting up the table. She was wearing an apron that only God knew where she got it from –Kanda was pretty sure that he never have had a chicken-yellow thing- but what caught his eye was the clothes underneath the piece.

A large, maroon shirt fell loosely from her shoulders up to middle-thigh. He instantly recognized it as his, and a weird left his throat completely dry.

Every man knew how sexy it was to watch a woman using his clothes. With Kanda it was no different, even though he had seen some of his one-night stands helping themselves with his shirts or boxers. However, watching _Izzie_ was totally…stunning. The way her large, pale legs were mercilessly exposed and how her figure outlined back light elicited a warm shudder through his body.

"No, Angel," she spoke into the receiver of her mobile, oblivious of his presence. "I really don't want to-" she sighed after an interruption "I don't know, I'll stay with Kanda a few more days. No, just tell him… No, no, don't give him the address"

"Izzie, your father has been here for the last three days, are you really going to just ignore him? I don't know what he did, but it is not worth this punishment" Angel firmly argued.

Izzie heavily sighed "Just leave it alone, okay? I won't go back as long as he stays there, that's everything I'll say about this"

"Final resolution?" Angel asked, upset.

"Final resolution" Izzie mumbled, hurt, unsure, sad. She hung up without waiting for an answer and left the cell phone onto the table.

That was the reason why she had asked Kanda to bring her luggage from the headquarters: her father. He was pretty insistent, looming around like a condemned soul, pretending to be the victim of Izzie's coldness.

None of them knew that he traded her life for power, and she was not telling that to anyone. Just thinking about it, remembering the scene, the words, the cold metal of the pistol against her temple, brought tears back to her eyes. She hated it, the vulnerability that invaded her body upon the remembrance; the pain crushing her heart; the void eating any other feeling.

But, above all, she hated the betrayal. The sentiment of being betrayed by the one she loved the most.

No, her father's reasons for doing it didn't matter, the point was that he exchanged her for power. Perhaps she was being cruel, but he was cruel first. He wanted her dead, then, she was already dead for him.

The sound of someone clearing his throat brought her back from her thoughts. She lifted her eyes to meet Kanda's intense stare.

Sheepishly smiling, Izzie tried to focus again in what she was doing. The lasagna in the oven claimed her immediate attention, as well as the man in the doorway.

"Hi, Kanda" she greeted amiably while opening the oven's door to check the lasagna's state.

"What's with the fu-" Kanda stopped midsentence when Izzie bent over her stomach to revise anything that was inside the oven. He nearly choked with his own saliva at the display.

He needed to hold himself back. Izzie was not like any of his previous experiences. As far as he knew, she was still virgin, and naïve and innocent.

But was she really that innocent to not be conscious of the reactions she could provoke by wearing just _that _and doing _that_?

He had to get a hold of himself.

Shit.

"What's with what?" She got up parsimoniously after closing the oven's door, apparently deciding that food was not ready yet.

Kanda didn't care. Their eyes crossed.

"Kanda?"

He reached out without thinking. One hand curved around her nape, pushing her head upwards until his lips met hers almost violently.

The small gasp of surprise that escaped through Izzie's lips was drowned by the intensity of the contact. Kanda sucked her lower lip whilst his free hand caressed softly her uncovered thigh. Up and down, a trail of fire burned her skin in the exact points where his fingers had passed.

It was the first time they were getting really intimate, and it was really fast for Izzie. She tried to break up the contact, pushing fruitlessly Kanda away with her weak hands. His pectorals felt really worked out and unyielding under her palms, which only made her grow frustrated and scared.

He was not going to force her, right? Of course not, she trusted him more than anyone at the moment.

Besides, it wasn't totally his fault that things were heating up. She, too, couldn't think properly, therefore, couldn't act fully convincing in stating what she wanted and not. Kanda's fingers felt really good against her untouched, thigh's skin, and the way he suddenly licked her lip and inserted his tongue inside her mouth left her breathless.

He then moved his mouth towards her jaw line, and that gave her a space of seconds to think clearly. And speak, too.

"Kan…Kanda…" she whispered, a little bit startled, but a little bit…something else that she couldn't describe.

His warm lips met her skin, tracing softly her jaw line up and down.

Izzie needed ten seconds to form something coherent with words "Kanda, stop…"

The girl tried to push him again, repeating her small phrase like a little, startled kid "Kanda, stop, is enough"

His warm breathe tickled her neck's skin when he growled. Straightening up, finally yielding to her desires, he stepped back and stared at her crimson face.

Kanda smirked, rejoicing with the way his simple actions affected her. Her face was a mixture of fear and stun, but her eyes were shinning with strange excitement

She gulped, uncomfortable under his critical eye. Her cheeks were burning with unwanted blood that had arisen, and judging for the smug smirk adorning Kanda's features, he noticed it too.

"Tsch" Kanda snorted "Am I really that good?"

Izzie didn't know if she was supposed to laugh at it or get more embarrassed. Certainly, he was good. She didn't have experience at all with such things, but she was smart enough to tell bad from good.

Anyway, why was she thinking at all in that? She furrowed her eyebrows when she took consciousness of the way she recoiled instinctively like a harassed animal.

A penetrating smell raised in the air. Suddenly, her mind travelled to the oven where she had left the lasagna cooking.

"The lasagna!" she exclaimed, alarmed. Izzie tried to move towards the stove to turn it off, but stopped when Kanda's arms imprisoned her against the counter. "What are you doing?"

"You didn't answer my question" Kanda spoke huskily, lowering his voice in a seductive way that gave Izzie goose bumps.

She tried to talk without stuttering. "U-unless you want to have a black mass of ashes as dinner, let me go"

"Che, I'm not eating any of that shit anyway"

"What? Why? It took me the whole afternoon to prepare it!" Izzie offended. The scent of the lasagna lingered in the air, blowing all the fog that overcastted Izzie's mind upon having Kanda seducing her in that way.

He snorted and let Izzie go. The passionate moment had gone, even when the sight of she still awakened his lower instincts. Anyway, atmosphere was cold again. "That's not fucking soba" Kanda answered nonchalantly.

"But it is food. Have you ever thought that eating only soba and tempura cannot be healthy?" Izzie said while running –escaping- towards the oven. She hastily opened it and waved her hand in front of her face to disperse the gray volute of smoke that came out of it.

With a kitchen's glove, the girl took out a heat-resistant tin containing a strange type of cake made out of meat, cheese and dough.

Kanda flinched at the sight of it. It didn't even have any vegetables in it. It looked fucking nasty. How could that be healthier than soba?

He watched Izzie putting the thing over the table with caution before leaving aside the apron and gloves. She sat down and looked at Kanda, expectantly.

"That's a cholesterol bomb" he sneered.

"It'll give you energy, fool, more than a bunch of vegetables and noodles. If you insist in practicing kendo every morning, at least have a nice dinner" Izzie sentenced motherly.

She cut out a piece of lasagna and put it in a plate which, afterwards, she handed to Kanda.

He grunted angrily, but took reluctantly the food and placed it in front of him. The cheese strained disgustingly between what he wanted to think was dough and the sauced meat. The borders of the piece which had been in contact with the mold were darkened, which gave him an access of nausea.

Albeit the aspect of it, he cut out a small mouthful and smelled it before placing it warily onto his tongue.

Well, despite the fainted taste of burned meat, it wasn't that bad. Kanda was not a fanatic of any other food besides Japanese, but he had to recognize that this was... fairly decent.

Of course he wouldn't say it out loud. Taking bites parsimoniously, he closed his eyes and neutralized the unknown flavors with gulps of green tea.

If he hadn't been so tired after a long day of work, he would have refused eating the shitty thing and prepare soba himself, he thought.

* * *

Izzie stepped out of Kanda's car and into the parking lot of the school for the first time after four days of enclosure.

Angel observed from the staircase that leaded to the principal entrance. Giving a sigh of relief, she stood up and waved her hand in direction of a gray Mercedes that was inconspicuously parked on the other side of the parking lot.

"I don't think you should be doing this" somebody told her from behind. She turned around to find Allen's worried countenance watching the storm that was approximating.

Angel blinked, confused. "Doing what?"

"Trying to reconcile them. Izzie doesn't seem willing to do such a thing and, sincerely, she must have a reason" the Brit commented. His gray eyes followed Izzie and Kanda as they walked across the parking lot. They hadn't still spotted Fletcher walking to them and the moment it happened, Allen was sure things were going to get ugly…

"Mr. Fletcher is Izzie's only family, and viceversa. They cannot stand away from each other" Angel simply shrugged, explaining the whole justification of her actions with those words.

Allen sighed, defeated. Lavi and she were really stubborn. He tried to persuade the redheaded to convince Angel about leaving Izzie alone, but he just responded in the same simplistic way his girlfriend did.

Both too naïve, too soft-hearted.

Angel and Allen paid their attention to the trio that was now encountering a few yards away.

Izzie's eyes narrowed the moment her father walked into them. She averted her eyes purposely, fixating them upon some spot in the sky and sped up her pace.

Fletcher tried to block her, and Izzie dodged successfully.

"Izzie, plea-" Fletcher begged, yearning to stop her, before Kanda's arm crossed in front of his chest and pushed him roughly backwards.

"What is he doing?" Angel hissed, frustrated, while Izzie climbed the stared nonchalantly.

Behind her, Allen just frowned upon watching Kanda stopping the man. Since when did the Japanese jerk actually made favors to people? Lately, his behavior has been really…awkward, almost gentle towards certain someone.

Could it be that they both…? He glanced at Izzie, who was walking in their direction, and back to Kanda forcing Fletcher back expressionlessly.

No, they couldn't be…could they? Lavi teased them about it, but could it be truth?

"Izzie!" Angel exclaimed. She reached Izzie and stopped her by the shoulders. "What are you doing? You father is back there!"

"Would you mind stopping it?" Izzie moved aside, releasing herself from the embrace, and tried to continue her way.

"Stopping? No! Izzie, your dad is…"

"Forget it, Angel, mind your own business and stop meddling in this!" Izzie freaked out. Her voice went a pitch higher than normal, two octaves up also. "Just…just let it be" she sighed then.

Angel blinked, bewildered and kind of offended. Izzie had never screamed to her before. It wasn't that much to ask her some simple words for her dad, was it?

Izzie walked away and Angel just observed her as her silhouette strayed into the highway. A male, Kanda, passed beside her and followed the Major's daughter.

"That girl…" Angel muttered.

"Just leave her alone." Allen suggested calmly. Angel and he turned to see Fletcher leaving alone the parking lot, looking regretfully at his feet, his shoulders down in defeat.

It was heart-breaking, especially for Angel, who knew the man fairly well. She couldn't understand Izzie's demeanor at all. Why was she being so mean? Was it because she felt abandoned by her father? Perhaps, but she went through the same situation and didn't react in such an ill way.

And the way she yelled at her some minutes ago. What was wrong with that girl? First, she didn't let herself show, and when they finally got the privilege to see her face, she acted like some kind of bitch.

Rather than feeling sad, as always, this time Angel felt angry, because she knew she was right. Anger was a weird emotion in her system, therefore, instead of cursing against the world like a madwoman, her eyes tickled with unshed tears.

Suddenly, someone surrounded her shoulders and squeezed her gently from the back. Lavi's aroma embraced her together with his arms.

"Oi oi, what are you doing out here?" the man cooed happily and pecked her in the cheek.

"Just watching the time passing by, rabbit" Allen responded for Angel, noticing her lack of words. The girl blinked rapidly to make the tears disappear from her countenance and to not alarm Lavi with them.

"But there are too many things to be done! Come on, come on, let's go to classes, education is an important part of our lives, kids" the redheaded lectured like a grown man talking to small children. He leaded his two friends back into the building just the moment the first bell rang indicating the beginning of classes.

* * *

One week went by like water between their fingers.

One week of Izzie barely talking, completely dedicated to the household of Kanda's place, the school and cooking, which seemed to be her new obsession. She never talked more than three words, she never argued neither laughed with no one out of Kanda's doors.

Angel's attitude wasn't encouraging either. After Fletcher left the same day Izzie refused talking to him at school, Angel never spoke more than monosyllables when Izzie was around.

It was worrisome and unsettling. The two had been best friends, really close from the very beginning, and seeing them deliberately ignoring each other preoccupied their friends, especially Lavi and Lenalee.

Allen, on his side, could understand their silence, and he could say he tried to do something to fix it, but the two girls were stubborn enough to keep their Ice Law updated.

Kanda, on his side, didn't mind of the girls being upset with each other. As far as he knew, they were going to reconcile sooner or later, and the matter didn't deserve more attention than the given.

He satisfied just with having Izzie at home. Even if not admitting it out loud, watching her moving freely around his house, preparing food that she thought could be good for him and using for the first time the washing machine made him feel like…like almost having a family. Being taken care of was a sensation that he never had the opportunity to experiment before, and feeling it was new and refreshing.

He was fucking sentimental, but couldn't avoid it. In any case, perhaps the fight between Izzie and her friend benefitted him and Izzie, since she could stay there –in his house- without having to feel any pressure to restart the contact with her father, which was pretty unthinkable.

The day of the presentation finally arrived. The nightclub opened its doors two hours before the show for the band to accommodate their equipment and everything they needed.

Beta Nightclub was a modern place with lights of different colors that, together with the dance-ball, gave the place a 70's vibe but with the lounge style of the new century. The modern sound equipment complemented perfectly Innocence's instruments to make a more electrified sound and help them with the special effects some of their songs required.

Allen installed clumsily his keyboard, connecting the wires in some silly, weird way to fix them after realizing that it didn't work. He was apparently nervous, and tried to hide it behind his usual kind smile.

"Are you sure you are okay, Allen?" Lenalee inquired. Allen lifted his head hastily and felt his tongue tangling at the sight.

Lenalee was standing exactly under one of the stage's blue lights which made her eyes shine with more intensity than always. She looked…out of this world.

He gulped nervously and nodded. "Yes yes, I'm just…distracted. Yeah, that"

"You seem anxious about something" the young singer commented.

"Anxious? Oh no no" Allen smiled confidently at her "I'm just distracted. Yesterday Shishou didn't let me sleep well" the boy lied.

"Ah, I see" the sweet girl shook her head. "You know, if that happens again, you can just come to Nii-san and mine's place, okay?"

She was so kind, so sweet…a warmness already known spread across Allen's chest. "Thanks, Lenalee" said he and focused again in preparing his things.

"Oh, Allen-kun…" the female singer interrupted him again sheepishly.

"Huh?" Allen replied without ungluing his eyes from the wires of the pair of keyboards he was installing.

"Remember that thing I wanted to tell you two days ago?" Lenalee started after a moment of doubtful silence.

Allen certainly did remember Lenalee getting all blushed and nervous about confessing something to him, reason that made him wonder the unbelievable.

Two days ago, Lenalee had walked into him and grabbed his wrist to take them somewhere alone behind the garden of the school. Her face grew crimson as words tried to form in her lips, words that never went out because Lavi found and interrupted them that moment. After that, the Chinese had been acting really weird, disappearing for moments from wherever they were and spending a lot of time talking by telephone.

Allen had noticed all of this signs, but the illusion that the action of grabbing him and blushing around left inside his chest gave wings to his imagination. And encouraged him to do what he longed so much to do.

So there he was, preparing the scenario for the showtime. He wasn't letting Lenalee ruin it by precipitating things. "Yes, but you don't have to tell me now" the Brit assured "The band is here"

Lenalee relaxed a bit. "Well, I think they have the right to know too"

Yeah, they had to know, but not yet, right? Lenalee and he had to clear things before.

"Perhaps, I just don't think now is the right moment" Allen discussed. His trembling hand barely inserted the wire into the right place. His voice was firm, but his body not so…

Lenalee thought for a while and nodded "Yeah, you're right. I'll tell you later and will wait for your support when telling the rest of the band" the Chinese smiled. "I'll help install the microphones, Allen-kun." She waved her hand in farewell and left the Brit alone again with his own worries.

He sighed. His hand searched into one of his pockets until it grabbed a piece of paper thoroughly folded and saved.

This was their night.

* * *

"Give applause to Innocence Rock Time!" the presenter requested. A general roar deafened the members of the band, who faced the public amiably. "We'll have a five minutes break now, please, remember that today is Lady's night, so, girls, go ahead and grab your drinks! Five minutes!" the fat man walked off the stage, leaving the band alone.

Lenalee, Kanda and Lavi left for their assigned table in a private section of the club, where Izzie and Angel were already waiting in silence.

From up the stage, a male's voice resounded through the microphone, a voice that had never sang before during the presentations.

The young boy scanned the room in search of the girl, calling her name nervously. When her face popped out of the private room, he smiled and waved sheepishly at her.

"Now, Lenalee, please, hear carefully. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. Just hear" Allen begged.

The Chinese blinked curiously and stared at the scene in front. At her back, the rest of Innocence observed Allen, bewildered and completely surprised.

The soft notes of the keyboard harmonized the atmosphere. His voice complemented then the sweet melody.

_When I see your smile  
Tears run down my face  
I can't replace  
And now that I'm strong  
I have figured out  
How this world turns cold  
and it breaks through my soul  
And I know I'll find  
deep inside me  
I can be the one_

Lenalee felt a lump forming in her throat, while tears started to shed down at understanding Allen's intentions.

_I will never let you fall(let you fall)  
I'll stand up with you forever  
I'll be there for you through it all(though it all)  
Even if saving you sends me to heaven_

_It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.  
Seasons are changing  
And waves are crashing  
And stars are falling all for us  
Days grow longer and nights grow shorter  
I can show you I'll be the one_

_I will never let you fall (let you fall)_  
_I'll stand up with you forever_  
_I'll be there for you through it all (through it all)_  
_Even if saving you sends me to heaven_

The public smiled and swayed, mesmerized by the cadence and the feelings printed in the lyrics that oozed through Allen's mouth. The boy closed his eyes, gloved fingers travelling expertly along the keyboard, his lips moving with security, pronouncing those words that sent chills across Lenalee's body.

It was the most beautiful song ever. She wondered if he had written it.

Of course he had; what a stupid question.

A lonely tear ran down her face. She glanced at her watch.

_Cuz you're my, you're my, my, my true love, my whole heart  
Please don't throw that away  
Cuz I'm here for you  
Please don't walk away and  
Please tell me you'll stay, stay_

_Use me as you will_  
_Pull my strings just for a thrill_  
_And I know I'll be okay_  
_Though my skies are turning gray_

Angel smiled "Lenalee, is this…?"

"I wish it don't" the Chinese interrupted.

_I will never let you fall  
I'll stand up with you forever  
I'll be there for you through it all  
Even if saving you sends me to heaven  
[to fade]_

Allen finished playing the last chord and finally opened his eyes. With a reverence of gratitude for the claps, he left the stage searching Lenalee with his gray eyes.

He immediately knew something was wrong when he saw her crying in silence.

"Lenalee, what's-?" he inquired, but was interrupted midsentence by a deeper voice.

"Hey, sweetheart" a man suddenly appeared beside the Chinese girl and surrounded her petite waist with a rough arm.

He was tall and with powerful, strong biceps that could easily break Allen's neck in two. His dark hair was combed in a ponytail behind his nape while his eyes fixated on Lenalee's face for a while.

"These are your friends, right?" the man sharply scanned the group of people surrounding Lenalee.

The Chinese wryly smiled. "Err…yes, Allen, Lavi, Kanda, Izzie, Angel, this is Kyle, my…boyfriend" Lenalee murmured the last part avoiding Allen's eyes.

The Brit's ears rang. Did he hear well? Then why…why did she intend to confess…?

Wait, so was this…no…then he got it completely wrong?

"You…your boyfriend?" Allen repeated, just to make sure.

Lenalee nodded, embarrassed.

Fine, her boyfriend. Allen evaluated again this guy, Kyle, to try to get an idea of what type of guy he was. He was certainly well dressed; yet, there was something kind of vulgar in his air. Perhaps it was the long hair, the big muscles, the dark, sharp eyes, the arm surrounding Lenalee's waist shamelessly… Wow, it was really hard to breathe with that pressure in his chest.

He needed to get out. Discretely, taking advantage that Lavi was entertaining the new couple with stupid questions, Allen disappeared between the oceans of people moving around the club.

His lungs yearned for some fresh air, the atmosphere was too heavy, too enclosed, too rough. Before he noticed it, he was running.

The more he yearned to get away, the harder it got to breathe. The more he thought about it, the bitterer it tasted.

He had to get out.

Stupid, little boy.

Stupid was he.

He crossed the doors and stepped out in the street. Cars passed by together with people coming and going from the club. A long queue whistle at him when he appeared, but he just ignored it.

None of them knew, none of them knew what it was to love someone so much and get your hopes up and think it is the right time to take a step forward and then being dropped, played, fooled by oneself and…

"Allen!" a female called him. The only voice he wanted to hear the rest of his life; the last one he needed, also.

He tried to ignore it and walk away, until an arm seized him by the elbow. "Allen-kun" said she. He didn't turn around, just fixated his gaze on the road "Allen-kun, I…I…I am"

"Don't say it" he interrupted "Don't say you are sorry. Is alright, Ijust needed some fresh air. Nice catch, Lenalee, by the way"

"Allen-kun" was all she managed to say. Taking a deep breath, Allen faced her tearful face with a smile.

"It is okay. It'll always be okay for me" he murmured. After all, it was not her fault that he misunderstood everything. What anguished him the most was having her being all anxious and guilty after hearing the song that expressed the feelings he had been keeping inside through all those years.

"I didn't want you to…" she continued apologizing.

"No, no, is just…is okay, we can always be friends. I'll always be your friend, Lenalee" Allen said. And it was truth, because friendship was, at the end, the only thing he could offer her. As much as it hurt to accept it.

"Let's go back inside, okay?" he proposed. "The show has to continue"

* * *

A/N:

1. I'm so sorry for the lateness! I just had had so much work, so much things to do and activities and training...argh, I'm totally exhausted but made an effort to publish today.

2. Due to my own tiredness, I'm sorry if there are any redaction mistakes or if the things went a little bit fast or slow here, or if I emphasized a lot in small details and didn't pay enough attention to big happenings, is just that I can't think properly right now.

These last two weeks had been really tiring, physically and emotionally. It is hard to find, some weeks before having a cheerleading contest, that a person that I thought cared about me really just fooled around while he really likes someone else. I couldn't focus in the training the whole week, neither sleep and got injured from one leg. Ugh, but let's stop talking about sad matters.

Well, so we are heading to the end right now. Two more chapters, I think? Perhaps one more, one less. I'd like to clarify some points of this, but I really want to get some sleep. Let's just put three points:

1. Angel is like a kid, adamant and waiting for her happy ending. She just wants to help, but gets frustrated.

2. Allen is such a sweet boy! I feel really bad for him now :(

3. Kanda isn't as good as he seems. You know, nice guys finish last, and Kanda doesn't like finishing last.

4. Lavi is like a kid too, there's the clue of why he and Angel understand each other so well. But they are vulnerable too. I won't say more.

5. About Lenalee's boyfriend: he is not an important as character, but what he does. Lenalee wanted to tell everything to Allen first because he is her best friend.

Reviews?


	34. Chapter 34 This is it

_Innocence Rock Time!~_

Music. Lights. Drinks. Everything spun around in a blur.

Izzie sat down on a stool in front of the bar and didn't leave the place for the rest of the night. The bartender served one drink after another and slid it across the bar to the distressed girl that kept on asking for alcohol relentlessly. She didn't care what the taste was or what kind of substance she was consuming, everything she wanted in that moment was to forget.

Forget her problems; forget the betrayals of the two persons she trusted the most.

She reminisced in the last happenings between the clouds alcohol started to form in her mind.

Excepting Allen and Lenalee's incident, everything seemed to develop smoothly. The band played a second round onto the stage, eliciting applauses and screams from the excited audience.

Normality, as real as it could be, marked the night.

Even Lavi remaining alone on the stage with an acoustic guitar and a microphone in front of him seemed perfectly normal.

"This last and lonely song I am about to play" Izzie remembered he started to say to the public "is the one I wrote to the most wonderful girl I have ever met. I think it describes her perfectly, even though it's impossible to write anything that can make justice to her awesomeness" He locked his gaze with Angel's, who was staring at the singer curiously. "This one goes for you, Angel-chan"

The girl just smiled and waited, expectantly, with the rest of the crowd.

_Like a thunderstorm on a summer day  
She came out of nowhere and that can say  
She´s a supernova shinin´ through the night  
A never sleeping satellite_

The cadence of the guitar was soft. Izzie could feel the notes vibrating smoothly across the stuffy air.

Perfectly harmonized with Lavi's voice and the profundity of the lyrics, the song resulted somehow hypnotizing.

_She´s a damn good reason for the sun to rise  
When you see her smile in the morning light  
When she cries, she cries a wishing well  
Played hide and seek with the hounds of hell_

_She throws you down to keep you high_  
_Into her private sky_

_She´s so  
Beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful  
Beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful  
Magical, mystical, irresistible, cosmical  
A wonderful overkill and most of all beautiful  
Ooooh ooh ooh aha  
Ooooh ooh ooh  
She´s so oooh ooh ooh  
aha oooh ooh ooh  
Beautiful  
mmh so beautiful_

Izzie tilted her head to see Angel from a better angle, and she discovered her best friend smiling charmingly to her boyfriend while swaying with the rhythm of the song.

Certainly, Angel was lucky to have found a man like Lavi.

Unfortunately, beautiful things like that cannot last in a bitter world like this, Izzie thought and drank another shot of whatever thing the bartender had given her now.

_You wanna call her name from the highest hill  
And she´s better than a 5-million-dollar bill  
She swims with you to Atlantis´ coast  
To keep you safe while the world explodes_

_She´s diving down to keep you high_  
_Into her velvet sky_

_She´s so_  
_Beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful_  
_Beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful_  
_Magical, mystical, irresistible, cosmical_  
_A wonderful overkill and most of all beautiful_  
_Ooooh ooh ooh_  
_She´s so beautiful_  
_She´s so oooh ooh ooh_  
_Aha oooh ooh ooh_  
_Beautiful_

_She´s a mermaid who´s left her fairytale_  
_She wrote a brand new song for the nightingale_  
_Sometimes I think she´s invented but_  
_Thank-God she´s made of flesh and blood._

_She´s everything I´ve ever missed the more_  
_But most of all she is_

A loud squeak resounded across the nightclub. Instantaneously, the microphone Lavi was using turned off together with the amplifier his acoustic guitar was connected to.

Lavi looked at his instruments, disconcerted by the sudden change, and then turned around to give a questioning look to the sound engineer who was standing behind the stage.

But, instead of having his eyes landing upon the bald man he already knew, a tall figure replaced him, the same that afterwards walked towards Angel.

"Show is over" his deep, cold voice exclaimed. Once he had left the darkness of backstage, lights illuminated the man who had so abruptly arrived.

His figure, with the broad shoulders and the severe expression chiseled in his face, resulted kind of imposing and intimidating. Izzie recognized him immediately and stiffened at the sight of the man.

"Father…" she heard Angel murmuring in what sounded more like a gasp than a whisper itself.

Leverrier stopped right in front of his adoptive child. "Let's go, Angel" he ordered, looking down at her.

"Go? Where?" She asked, perplexed.

Leverrier cocked an eyebrow; as if he couldn't believe that such stupid question could be asked "Atlanta, of course"

Izzie could see through Angel's distressed expression how the notice suddenly hit her.

"Atlanta? N-now? I…I sent you a letter tellin-" Leverrier's child stuttered.

"Telling me that you wanted to stay, but you are not the one to decide what's going to be done, brat" the man sentenced authoritatively. The small mustache moved with the cadence of the hard words that his mouth let fall.

"But, dad-"

"Is there something wrong?" Lavi interfered. He placed himself beside Angel, looking distrustfully at Leverrier.

The older man scowled in the younger's direction. "Stay away from my daughter, pot smoker" he sneered.

"What? Your daughter?" Lavi's eyebrows furrowed, taken aback by the hostile reaction as well as the revelation. He seemed to be about to retort when Izzie thoughtfully spoke.

"Mr. Leverrier, it's been a while since I last saw you" she dumbly said.

The Judge's eyes fixated upon her. His eyes hardened at the sight of the girl, though, a wry, smug, smile curved his lips.

"Fletcher, nice to see you" Leverrier feigned surprise.

_As if he didn't know I was here _Izzie thought for her insides. The words Tyki had once told her about Leverrier's betrayal rang in the back of her head like a never ending echo. He was part of the reason why she had been blasted away from her hometown.

Antagonism arose in her insides towards the man that now stood in front of her. Hypocrisy in its pure form was he, in Izzie's opinion.

She didn't respond, so embedded as she was in these thoughts, until Leverrier himself pulled her away from her mental rummage.

"I've heard you decided not to go back with your father" he commented nonchalantly, then added menacingly "I hope Angel doesn't decide to follow your awful example"

Izzie heard Kanda huffing behind her.

Leverrier took Angel by one of the shoulders and shook her slightly to catch her attention, since the girl was staring accusingly at Izzie.

"Let's go now, Angel. This isn't the kind of places where you should be in" the Judge snorted disdainfully, glaring at all the presents.

"Go? Are you leaving, Angel?" Lavi panicked while his only eye widened with surprise.

Angel's eyes flickered between her father and her boyfriend "I-I…can I stay just for-"

"Stay?" Leverrier barked "Why should you stay when all your work is already done? We got what we wanted" He lifted his eyes from the girl and glared at Izzie and Kanda "Not the way it was planned, but still it worked"

"Work?" Lavi, Angel and Izzie inquired at the same time.

Leverrier huffed, exasperated, but answered their question. An answer Izzie never wished to hear. "Abducting you from your house, of course" he said, looking right into Izzie's eyes. "It was supposed to end all in the concert, but things went…weird. Yet, it worked out better than expected"

Izzie felt ice sliding down her spine, passing her flesh to install finally inside her stomach.

"What?" she gasped, disbelieving the declaration.

Leverrier smirked with evil pleasure at the girl's stun. He leaned forward, closer to Izzie's head, so what he said could only be heard by the girl. "Did you ever think Angel took you for mere pleasure to that concert? What a coincidence that mafia tried to kidnap you that same night in that place". Said this, he straightened and surveyed Izzie's reaction carefully.

She just stared into the emptiness, flabbergasted.

From the beginning, Izzie always thought that it was really weird that Leverrier, with his obsessive, overprotective demeanor, let Angel attend a concert during the night. Yet, she never suspected that some evil intentions could be hidden behind that action.

But now…it kind of makes sense. The attack during the concert which must had been thoroughly planned, Angel's adamancy, the desperate tries to get tickets…

"Angel, how could you…?" she mumbled, lifting her head to meet Angel's confused expression.

"How could I what? I don't understand" the girl darted looks between Izzie's face and her father's smirk.

Leverrier was the one to speak then "You know, Angel. Our small deal: take Fletcher to the concert and I'll let you go."

"And what with that?" Angel furrowed her eyebrows, even more confused.

Deadly silence installed among the group while understanding sank in the teenagers' minds.

"It was planned" Izzie muttered, chewing every word before spitting it out. "You both planned it" Tiyki's poisonous words of that dreadful day at the ball popped out in her mind and lingered there like a snake curling around its prey.

"_You should be aware also whenever you are around your friend"_

Betrayal. Everywhere she looked.

Perhaps she could have thought better before accusing Angel for something she was probably unaware of. Izzie knew how naïve her friend could be; how easy it was to deceive her, however, she didn't want to try to justify her. It was too tiresome and too useless.

Truthfully, she was scared about dwelling on issues that so badly hurt her, because the more she thought about something, the more she got wounded by the bitter truth.

Besides, her father betrayed her once. Didn't that mean that Angel was equally susceptible to become a traitor? Strings weren't more attached between them as they were between father and daughter.

"Angel, did you do…something like that?" Lavi questioned her girlfriend, not wanting to believe a word they said.

Izzie didn't stay to hear anything Angel responded. Like a ghost, she strayed from the spot beside the stage they were in and wandered around the nightclub, searching for anything interesting enough to distract her mind from the new revelations.

Walking like a zombie, she finally ended up on a stool in front of the bar, illuminated by multicolor lights which added some life to the otherwise dark place.

So that was how she ended up thoughtlessly swallowing any weird mixture the bartender kept on pouring into her glass.

Who was she to trust, then, if everyone she trusted ended up betraying her?

From the corner of her eye she saw a tall profile approaching her from the right. She didn't recognize it until it spoke: "Che, what the fuck are you doing?"

"Getting drunk, don't you see?" Izzie responded with a hiccup, swallowing another mouthful of vodka with grapefruit soda.

Izzie heard Kanda muttering something for himself she couldn't understand. Afterwards, she felt him tugging her by the sleeve of her purple blouse.

"Let's go" he ordered, but Izzie just shoved his hand off her shoulder.

"What's the haste? There are still a thousand of bottles I haven't yet emptied!" Izzie hiccupped and burst into nonsensical, hollow laughter.

Kanda snorted at her side and seized her by the arm before the girl fell to the floor. Leaving a bill onto the bar, the bassist firmly grabbed Izzie's elbow and dragged her away from the place.

"Hey! What are you doin'?" the girl asked aloud. "It's too late to kidnap me, my father already won! Hahaha" Izzie guffawed. Nonetheless, after a pair of seconds giggling and chuckling she didn't know if the noise coming out of her mouth were sobs or laughs.

She didn't notice the moment Kanda and her left the local, only catching sense of her surroundings once the couple arrived to Kanda's home. By then, Izzie had surrendered to a helpless weep that continued all the way into the house.

Kanda practically held her across the corridors of his home and dropped her onto the living room's sofa. She slumped like a bag of potatoes.

Whimpering, she buried her face in the pile of cushions set on one side of the sofa and cried out everything she had been keeping inside, just like that night Kanda fought with her during the ball.

She cried for everything that had happened to her. Oblivious of Kanda's discomfort, she kept on damping the fabric of the furniture with her tears restlessly.

It took Izzie half an hour to finally regain her self-control. Taking deep breaths, she sat down on the couch and looked for Kanda. A disgusting taste filled her mouth and when she tried to stand up, the world uncontrollably spun around.

She let herself slump again onto the cushions until the world stopped spinning. Once she was sure her senses were stable again, she stepped on her two feet, endeavoring to keep her little balance.

Beside the couch, onto the coffee table, Izzie discovered a package of tissues thoughtfully placed there. With her heart in a hand, the alcohol increasing her sensitiveness, she wiped her nose while looking again for Kanda.

Kanda was nowhere in the vicinity. The house was in complete silence, but that was nothing new for Izzie. Kanda was the type of person who moved so subtly around that his movements barely caused any sound.

Stumbling clumsily, Izzie managed to get to the threshold of the kitchen's entrance. When she opened the door, the sight of Kanda sitting tranquilly at the table, sipping a cup of green tea, soothed her unnerving feelings.

It was as if he emitted tranquility throughout his body. Watching him there, even when he didn't even open his eyes to look at her, made Izzie feel less lonely.

It suddenly hit her how much she relied now on Kanda. He was probably the only one that understood her without the need to communicate whatever she felt. And he was the one who comforted her with his modest silence.

Giving unsure steps, as if testing the floor below, Izzie reached one of the chairs and let her body fall on it.

Kanda slid across the table a cup of some brownish liquid that he had had beside him.

Izzie smelled it. Through her overcastted senses, she caught the hint of the penetrating coffee smell the liquid gave off. She took the cup between her hands and realized it was still hot.

The girl sniffed, touched by such caring behavior. Because, coming from Kanda, this was the summit of caring for another person.

"Che, if you are not done whimpering, then go to your room" he snapped sharply from the other side of the table.

Alright, sweet moment gone; Kanda was back.

Izzie gave a rather sad, wry small. The status of her life rushed to her mind, and she let out a bitter chuckle that felt more like a cry.

"What?" the bassist opened one eye to look at the tearful girl, then closed it, pretending indifference.

"My life is pathetic now, don't you think?" Izzie commented, dragging the words. "No family. No home. No true friends. Nothing." She laughed incoherently. Or cried. Whatever.

Kanda snorted disdainfully and stood up from the table. He left the empty cup of tea in the sink and quietly washed it. The run of the water was the only sound that embraced the couple for a pair of minutes. The Japanese didn't seem willing to contradict his girlfriend's statement. Anyway, before leaving the kitchen, Kanda said the words that probably saved Izzie from the suicidal crisis that started to sneak beneath her thoughts.

"Don't be an idiot, Fletcher" he snapped from the doorframe, his back facing the girl "I'm the best fucking thing in the damned world. You don't need anything else"

* * *

Morning light found Lavi standing sadly at the frontal, glass doors of Black Order Headquarters.

The past last hours flew in a blur across his mind. Not used to seeing things through mental fog, the change resulted confusing and startling to the singer.

And, above all, heartbreaking.

He waited impatiently, but at the same time wishing she never appeared, for Angel to show up. He knew she was there, in her assigned room, packing her things.

His heart weighted like a thousand pounds. The oppressive sensation that clung to his chest was unfamiliar to him. Upon the thought that he was about to lose the only girl he had fell in love with, the oppression turned into excruciating pain.

After four more minutes waiting in the swift fall breeze, Lavi finally saw through the transparent doors Angel walking towards him with her adoptive father stepping on her heels.

"Angel" Lavi breathed when she crossed the double-doors. He gave a step forward and took her by the shoulders. "Angel, please, don't leave"

He looked at her directly in the eyes. His brownish irises returned the gaze a few seconds before she averted them from the single, green eye of her boyfriend. Lavi could see bright, salty tears glossing the girl's eyeball.

Leverrier snorted. "Move aside, rascal, we're-"

"Can you just give us a second?" Lavi interjected almost violently. He sent one glare to the big man standing behind Angel's small body. Leverrier scowled deeply but didn't answer, so the singer pulled the girl to one side of the sidewalk, at safe distance from Atlanta's judge.

Lavi spoke in a rush. "Angel, you don't have to do this. You heard what he insinuated to Izzie. He is probably the one responsible for her kidnapping! And weren't you all disappointed because he didn't dare call a single time for the last two months? Is this really the man that can fulfill a role of father?" he paused to let the words sink in Angel. "You are happy here, I'm convinced of that. You told me you love me. Isn't this love, what we have here, worth risking your relationship with a man that doesn't seem to care about you?"

Angel suffocated a sob. She started trembling from the effort to keep her tears from streaming. "He is my father, Lavi" she softly mumbled. "He is the one who picked me up from the streets when I was three"

"Just to give you, what? A solitary life?" Lavi despaired.

"A home, food and a family, Lavi!" Angel responded, raising her voice an octave up. She lifted her eyes to look directly into Lavi's green lagoon, but didn't resist it for too long, so she fixated her gaze upon the gray pavement instead. "He may not be the perfect father, but he cared about me when no one did. I owe him too much."

"He planned Izzie's kidnapping!"

"No, he didn't!" Angel hastily spat out. Then she lowered her voice to a more sweet tone "I'm sure he just said it because he is resentful towards her. Izzie is being unfair and you know it. Father would never mean any harm to my friends" she said gullibly.

Lavi balled his hands into fists. "Why are you so blindfolded?"

"Why are you so reluctant to let me go?" Angel retorted.

"Because I love you!"

"I…I love you, Lavi" she whispered sweetly, touched by the desperation in his tone. With one hand, she caressed softly Lavi's cheek while talking "But I love my father too, and he is my family-"

"He is not"

"-and I can't give my back to my family" Angel continued as if Lavi had not interrupted "I am so sorry, Lavi" she heavily sighed and a first tear rolled down her face, then it was followed by another, and another…

Lavi closed his eyes, defeated, and focused on the warmth of Angel's hand cupping his face. He knew that moment it'd be the last touch they'd have.

"Please, don't go. Don't leave me. This can't be it" He quivered like a frightened child, placing his hand onto hers.

A pair of seconds in silence passed. The first sun lights warmed their faces and the tranquility of an early Sunday morning embraced their last minutes together.

"This is it" Angel sentenced. She gave one step back, dropping her hand from Lavi's face.

Lavi didn't open his eyes as he heard Angel walking away. He knew that moment that 'eyes that don't see, heart that doesn't feel' was a flat lie, because, even though he didn't see her leaving, his heart ached after her departure.

"_Love only leads to a broken heart" _he remembered his grandfather's favorite quote.

So this was a broken heart.

* * *

A/N: DON'T HATE ME, PLEASE!

I know it, I am a horrible person!

And I am even more horrible because of what I am going to say right now:

Innocence Rock Time! is officially COMPLETED. Yep, except for an epilogue I hope I'll be able to update within the next days, THIS IS IT.

Oh, but don't be sad, because this only means another beginning is about to come. Just after the epilogue is published, Attached Strings, Innocence Rock Time!'s sequel will start, so keep tuned in! :)

I gotta say that a major change in schemes was made during the planification of Attached Strings, but of course you don't know it because I have not yet started typing. Anyway, in case you read the summary/spoilers on my profile, I'd advise that you check again to be aware of these changes.

And, if you haven't read it, then...do it...if you want to :D

Also, I'd like to offer now an apology for the incredible, long time I took to update. I was busy with projects, training, cheerleading, exams and filling University's exams/admission forms -I already got accepted in one, but it is painfully expensive :/-

Well, now that you know this...THANK YOU FOR REVIEWS, STORY ALERTS, FAVORITES, AUTHOR ALERTS,ETC, ETC! You are awesome! *sniff sniff*

Reviews and cookies?:D


	35. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

Lavi tapped his fingers absentmindedly on the polished, crystal surface of the bar. His face, dimly illuminated by the multicolor lights below, remained unreadable as he swallowed another shot of tequila.

His heart wretched painfully after another flashback crossed his mind. With renewed vigor, he asked the bartender to pour another liquor dose into his small glass.

"They say alcohol doesn't fix problems" a woman at his side whom he hadn't noticed before said.

Lavi hollowly laughed, his reactions already affected by the multiple shots of tequila he had been drinking for the last hours. "No, but it helps endure them" he responded.

The woman chuckled and shook her head. Lavi noticed she was wearing a red night dress which barely covered her legs past mid-thigh. Her hair, chestnut colored, fell at both sides of her face, hiding her features from Lavi.

"You are right" she grabbed her glass of _Sex in the beach _and delicately sipped the drink. Her perfect-chiseled profile was exposed to Lavi's eyes for a moment. The color of the skin was rather tanned, softly kissed by California's summer sun. When she smiled, he noticed her perfectly-white teeth shinning with the red and blue colors the bar's lights emitted.

"Let me guess: You are mourning after your lost eye" the woman looked at him directly, pointing with a motion of her head to Lavi's patch.

He frowned. "No, I'm already over it"

"Then don't tell me some little girl broke your heart. I can't fathom someone leaving that pretty face of yours" she smiled, discarding the possibility immediately.

Lavi grimaced, Angel's face popping suddenly behind his eyes, just the way she had done for the last two weeks.

The woman raised her eyebrows with disbelief, and then clicked her tongue while shaking her head. The brown curls bounced gracefully with the motion. "Tsch, tsch, I wouldn't believe it if it wasn't because you look so afflicted about it"

"Well, I couldn't make her stay" Lavi said, emptying another glass in a gulp. The bartender served more tequila without waiting for the customer to call him.

"I understand you. My boyfriend dumped me" she confessed and made a pause to give another sip to her drink "It turned out he was engaged, the sick bastard"

_It turned out Hitler is more important to my ex-girlfriend than me _Lavi thought bitterly, but didn't dare to voice it. It hurt a lot preceding the word _girlfriend_ with an _ex._ It just felt surreal. Lavi wished it was surreal.

But it was as real as the fact that he was drunk to the toes.

It was too much to bear, these heartbeats which he suddenly desired to stop, because the more his heart pumped, the more it bled inside.

"Do you know the remedy for broken hearts?" the woman beside him questioned out of the blue. "Sex" she answered.

Lavi stiffened immediately. He looked at her as if she had told a bad joke, but the naughty smile the woman sent him told Lavi she was serious about it.

"C'mon, sweetheart" she leaned forward from her stool, so close to the singer's face that he smelled the alcohol in her mouth. Or perhaps it was his own aroma the one that came out through his hyperventilation.

"Let's just help each other forget for a while" with that purred, she sealed her words with a passionate kiss.

Lavi felt the woman's hands embracing him by the neck, pushing his face forward so she could deepen the kiss. He tried to push her away, but his clumsy efforts were fruitless. At the end, he realized, he didn't want to break up the contact because the way she tangled his hair around her fingers was exactly the same way Angel did it.

For a moment, the oppression in his chest loosened, letting him breathe after an eternity choking. It was so refreshing, liberating and _painkilling_ that he couldn't just say 'no'.

Without a second thought, encouraged by the alcohol running through his veins, he left his conscious forsaken and surrendered to this physical comfort.

Before he noticed it, the woman had already dragged him by the tongue to the backseat of a flashy-red car parked outside the bar.

* * *

Angel finished sketching the skirt she had been working in for the last three hours.

She observed it for a while, thinking that it'd look awesome on Lenalee, but then put it aside with a sigh of resignation.

Almost a month. She looked at the calendar hanging from her room's wall.

November 2. She wondered how they were doing: Allen, Lenalee, Kanda, even Izzie.

Lavi…

It was incredible how much she missed him. The songs he wrote for her still echoed at the back of her mind. They never faded, just like the sensation of loss.

And the worst part of everything was that she couldn't even call him or watch news of them in the television, since Leverrier banished those luxuries from her. She felt imprisoned, lonely and sad.

But Leverrier did it for her own good, she tried to convince herself. He knew that it'd be worse if Angel called every single day and hear how good the others were doing.

Yeah, he did it because he cared. However, Angel couldn't totally believe it. There was this feeling inside her that kept telling the girl she made a terrible mistake picking her father over her friends and boyfriend.

_Garbage _the girl shook her head, as if the motion could also shake away the bad thoughts.

To distract herself from such miserable sentiments, she decided to design another piece. Angel stood up and searched in her drawers for another sheet of clean, white paper.

She pouted at finding the interior of the drawer empty. Stirring to shake the numbness, she thought of other places where paper may be.

Definitely, in her room there weren't any sheets. The only place that came to her mind was Leverrier's studio downstairs.

Angel grimaced. That was supposed to be prohibited territory according to her father's rules. It was the last place where she could be allowed, and to enter just to seek some sheets of papers…

Well, it couldn't be that bad, huh? Leverrier was not at home, as far as she knew, and he wouldn't be back for the next hour.

Could she…? In other circumstances –sane circumstances- the idea of trespassing into the studio was unthinkable. However, now, at a moment when being inactive committed her mental health, breaking a rule couldn't be that bad.

Opening her room's door just enough for her to sneak out was the first of a series of bold steps she attempted that day. Tiptoeing along the second floor's hallways and down the stairs, Angel darted quick glances around.

The house was as silent as always. Her feet barely made any sound neither left any trace on the white-marbled floor.

She peered inside the kitchen just to make sure no one was there, not even the cook. Then, acting as inconspicuous as she could, she reached the doorknob of the studio's oak door.

Her heart raced like a maniac inside her chest. She turned her head nervously to both sides of the large hallway to make sure no one was coming. When it got obvious that she was completely alone, she hastily opened the door and slid inside the studio, closing it behind her.

A small fire behind a large, wooden-desk warmed the room. The walls, in contrast with the beige color of the rest of the house, were covered with dark wood panels.

The big, polished desk's surface reflected beautifully the light of the candelabra and the fire. Two big bookcases stood at each side of the desk. Dozens of books, binders, seamed papers and other documents filled the imposing shelves.

Angel silently approached the desk. A total of six drawers –three at each side- decorated the back part of the piece.

The girl opened the first one. Manila envelopes received her from the interior of the drawer.

She closed it and opened the one below. Another series of legal contracts and that sort of boring things appeared. Grunting with frustration, she closed it and reached for the last one of the row.

Her eyes met two pictures. They showed a dark, austere room which only furniture was a light bulb and a chair. She was about to close it when a third photograph, buried underneath the first two, caught her attention.

It looked like…

With a trembling hand, she took the piece out. A gasp escaped through her parted lips at recognizing the person in it.

Izzie was tied to the same chair of the previous photos. The room was also the same, the only difference marked by the presence of the kidnapped girl. She seemed woundless, although she was pale and dark rings underlined her eyes.

Angel took the rest of the photographs to revise them. They were very similar: Izzie tied to a chair. In some, a bruise or two flawed her face and, with each one that passed, the girl seemed more and more haggard.

Angel searched in the drawer for some other evidences. There were two manila envelopes which she ripped open and read the letters they contained.

_Sheryl Camelot_

_Washington Street #2394_

_Denver, United States of America_

Hyperventilating, she frantically read pieces of the content:

_Mikk captured her…Resistance, but no more…your daughter helped…things not going right…wait to see what Fletcher says._

She opened the other letter and scanned

_He refused to withdraw…girl not dead…Mikk escaped…if Fletcher discovers that we kidnapped…you are going down with me._

"No…it…" tears filled her eyes. She tossed the letters aside, together with the photographs whilst a group of emotions filled her chest.

Anger, disappointment, sadness, frustration…

The little she had read was just enough to put the pieces of the puzzle together. All the evidences, Lavi's and Leverrier's own words, Izzie's depression –of course she didn't want to see her father! He changed her!-, Leverrier's indifference during the time she traveled with the band…everything made sense.

Leverrier only saw her as a pawn. Just that: a pawn.

A high-pitched ring perturbed the silence. Angel jolted at the sound and stared wide-eyed to the telephone, praying in silence that it shut up.

The answering machine recorded the message after no one answered the call.

"_Leverrier, I'm still waiting for you to call me back. I need those judgments for tomorrow_" A male voice's said.

Forgetting what she had gone there for, Angel started to collect the letters and photographs.

Abruptly, just when she had picked the last paper from the floor, the door swung open. In entered Leverrier who, upon finding Angel there, turned crimson from rage. He stalked towards the small girl and, without a warning, slapped her across the face.

Angel glared at him: the first glare she had ever directed to her father. Without a word, she dropped the papers to the floor and exited the room in silence.

She sprinted to her room, crying, but with a new resolution arising in her. Before second thoughts appeared in her mind, she opened a suitcase and started tossing clothes, personal belongings and other important things inside.

When she was done, she headed for the principal door.

Leverrier was already standing there.

"If you cross those doors," he icily stated "you'll never come back again. I'll disowned you as my daughter, Angel Leverrier"

Gathering herself together, Angel coldly replied "Have you ever considered me as your daughter?"

"I adopted you, stupid brat"

"That's not what I mean. Adopting a child doesn't mean that you become its father" Angel cleaned the tears from her eyes, "did you ever saw me as something else than a tool?"

Leverrier deeply scowled. "What kind of stupid questions are these?"

"Why did you adopt me? Tell the truth!" The girl desperately demanded. She looked into the eyes of her father, expecting to see some flash of sincerity in there, something that said that he cared about her, but they were as aloof as always. A sudden idea crossed her mind and she couldn't avoid saying: "Was it because that same year they were considering electing you as a Judge and you needed something that proved yourself soft-hearted? I'm not stupid, father"

"You cross those doors," Leverrier repeated, ignoring Angel's inquisitions "and you become an orphan again"

Angel closed her eyes and slowly inhaled. She didn't speak until she was sure her voice wouldn't tremble "An orphan better than a pawn"

Striding, suppressing the tears as hard as she could, Angel straightly passed Leverrier and stepped into the courtyard.

She opened her eyes. Bright sunlight warmed her cheeks.

She had no money, no profession, no cell phone, and no way to get in contact with any of her friends, though, for the first time in a month, she felt free.

Perhaps meeting Lavi again wasn't as impossible as it seemed. But, first, she had to prove herself able to cope with life on her own.

It hurt. Yet, it felt somehow right.

_November 2. Here I go._

* * *

_A/N: SO...now, Innocence Rock Time! officially ends! Hurray!_

_I'm sorry there was no Kazzie here, but, well, there was not too much left to say about them in this epilogue. But, don't worry, there'll be A LOT of them in the sequel :)_

_Wow, this is the second fanfiction I finish. Almost 400 pages written...I feel kind of proud of myself. I want to sincerely thank you for following me through this one-year journey. Writing Innocence Rock Time! wasn't really that easy. I suffered many writer's block and, emotionally, had many upside downs, but, thanks God, I managed to give this story an ending and get enough inspiration to write a sequel. _

_About the sequel...here are some of my warnings: it is gonna be a lot more serious, mature and dramatic. I'm gonna try to give Allen and Lenalee a little more of spotlight, but my principal characters will still be Kanda, Izzie, Lavi and Angel. This epilogue was just a taste of what's coming ;)_

_I don't know what else to say...I feel kind of nostalgic now. You know, that existencial hollowness you feel after ending a story...it's eating me._

_But, well, soon -perhaps VERY SOON- you'll see Attached Strings first chapter on my profile, wuu~_

_Thank you, again, for all the support you gave me. THANK YOU! REALLY...*sniff*_

_Sayo Sayo and see you on Attached Strings!_


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